GUWAHATi: A little over 90 per cent of the electorate at Bornijora LP School under Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency cast their votes during the repolling on Monday.
The balloting at the booth, located at Jalukbari assembly segment, was countermanded following allegations of rigging.
No untoward incident was reported during the repolling.
The six persons, including five poling staff, were arrested and a case registered against them after a video of a man escorting voters to the EVM, looking over the cardboard shield of the EVM and even pressing the buttons on their behalf at a polling station in Assam’s Gauhati (Guwahati) parliamentary constituency, which went to the polls on April 24, created ripples in the state.
A local court on Sunday sent all the six accused in the poll rigging incident to 14 days’ judicial custody.
Police had not sought custody of any of the accused, sources said.
All the six accused, including the presiding officer Paresh Hazarika (who is a senior inspector of the Cooperative Dept), Rakhar Chandra Choudhury (employee with the Water Resources Dept), Abhay Nath Bezbaruah (employee with the Irrigation Dept), Rupam Malakar (LDA at Arya Vidyapith HS School), Bimal Boro (a Village Defence Party personnel), and video-photographer Bidyut Saikia were produced before the court around 3.30 pm yesterday.
The arrests were made after visuals of a local TV channel showed a VDP man – Bimal Boro – ‘assisting’ the voters in casting their votes right inside the EVM enclosure.
Meanwhile, bail petitions on behalf of all the accused, except Bimal Boro, have already been moved.
All the accused were on Monday shifted to Nalbari jail, sources added.
Meanwhile, the president of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has demanded an inquiry by the CBI into the alleged episode of rigging.
Mahanta also expressed apprehension on the role of the Election Commission as it failed to ensure ‘free and fair polls’.
The two-time former Chief Minister also vouched re-polling in all the polling stations in Jalukbari Assembly constituency.
Mahanta said that an impartial inquiry is what would bring the culprits to book.
He was, however, in favour of dropping charges against the videographer with whose help the episode came to light.
The AGP president said that such acts are a threat to the democratic process of the country and strict action should be taken against the culprits. (UNI)
