Puri: BJP MLA from Brahmagiri in Puri district L B Mohapatra on Wednesday complained to State Election Commissioner (SEC) Aditya Prasad Padhi after violence during polling in the first phase of the panchayat polls left scores injured in Krushnaprasad block.
Voters from Tichhini village were attacked by people armed with lathis at booths in Alanda gram panchayat, leaving scores injured and several vehicles damaged.
Mohapatra alleged that the attackers were BJD workers. Over 20 people and 15-20 vehicles parked outside the booth were damaged in the violence, he said.
“In booth 4, voters were locked and in booth 8, the ballot box was taken away,” the MLA alleged. He complained to the SEC that the police took no action despite several complaints.
According to latest reports, over 40 were injured, of whom 17 are reportedly critical. The ballot box of booth 8 was looted.
In a separate incident, while voting was going on at Kashijharia village of Chapamanik panchayat under Brahmagiri block of the district, a voter snatched the ballot box from booth number 9. He threw the ballot box over the campus wall where some miscreants picked it up and fled.
In another incident, four journalists were allegedly attacked while covering the polls in the district. The journalists from two electronic media houses were on duty at a booth in Badala panchayat in Kanas block when they were attacked.
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