Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Five incidents of bogus voting

Staff Reporter

Minor incidents of violence and fisticuffs in many parts of the State

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At least five incidents of bogus voting were reported during the local body elections in eight districts of the State on Saturday. Four persons have been arrested in this connection. Except one, all the others are Left Democratic Front (LDF) workers.

In Thiruvananthapuram city, Dasan, who was taken into custody by the police from Thiruvallom on the charge of bogus voting, was forcibly freed by LDF activists. The other incidents of fake voting were reported from Aranmula, Kunnathunadu in Ernakulam and Chavakkad in Thrissur.

The election in Theranoor booth number 16 in Alappuzha district has been postponed to September 26 following allegations that there were discrepancies in the voters list. Voting was delayed for sometime in Parasala ward number 10 in Palukal UP School when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers discovered that the name of their candidate, Vijaya Krishnan Nair, was printed as Vijaya Kumaran Nair, in the ballot papers.

There were also minor incidents of violence. In Varkala, the police have registered a case against one Emy alias Iqbal on the charge of assaulting Prasannan, a booth agent of the Democratic Indira Congress- Karunakaran (DIC-K). The police said Iqbal had assaulted Prasannan for challenging his vote at the Kizhekkepuram Central UP School polling station in Elakamon panchayat. A few persons suffered minor injuries when Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Communist Marxist Party (CMP) workers clashed in front of Sree Nelakanta Vidyapeedom at Chengottukonam. The clash occurred when the party workers accused each other of attempting to cast bogus votes.

The Nedumangad police arrested seven persons following a tense standoff between UDF and LDF workers in Karakulam grama panchayat. They were booked on the charge of breaching public peace and later released on bail from the police station. In Palode Jawahar colony, the rural police took into custody nearly 10 BJP and LDF workers on the charge of breaching public peace. In Poongumoodu, a DIC (K) worker gave a police complaint accusing some people in Chenthi of threatening him.

Around 2 a.m. on Saturday, persons suspected to be LDF workers set on fire the hut of UDF worker, Majeed, in Karuvatta in Haripad in Alappuzha district. Moli Sudarshan, an UDF candidate in Kalady in Ernakulam, gave a police complai nt stating that she was threatened by two youth. Few persons sustained minor injuries when LDF and UDF workers clashed at Thakazhi in Ambalappuzha.

In Kottarakara, a LDF candidate, Chandrika Devi, has given a police complaint accusing her father, Narayana Pillai, a UDF supporter, of assaulting her. She has been admitted to the hospital.

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