PUNE, February 28: Polling for the Lok Sabha elections was peaceful in Pune and the industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad except for two separate incidents of bogus voting and a case in which a former Congress corporator allegedly abused a woman corporator of Pune Vikas Aghadi.Anil Uttam Vidhate, a 24-year-old youth from Malwadi area of Hadapsar, was arrested when he attempted to impersonate one B Laxmi in a bid to cast a bogus vote at Hadapsar around 1.15 p.m.Vidhate's arrest was the outcome of the presence of mind exhibited by the alert presiding officer at polling booth number 184 at Jeevan Shikshan Mandir school in Sade Satara Nali area, S R Savant, police said.Savant, who suspected that Vidhate was faking the identity of B Laxmi to cast a bogus vote, apprehended the youth and handed him over to the Wanowrie police.In a separate incident of similar nature, Ganesh Mahadeo Chavan was apprehended by polling officials while he was trying to impersonate in a bid to cast a bogus vote. He waslater handed over to the Sahakarnagar police, said Pune's Police Commissioner K K Kashyap.Timely intervention by the police helped defusing tension at an early stage when supporters of two separate parties indulged in shouting slogans against each other at Ghorpade Peth around 5 p.m., he added.Pune Vikas Aghadi corporator Sarita Shankarrao Wadiyar has filed a case with the Kothrud police claiming that she was abused by former Congress corporator Kumar Mahadeo alias Nana Barate.Sarita Wadiyar's complaint stated that she was returning after inspecting the facilities provided for the polling officials at the Karvenagar-based Ashok Samrat School around 10.45 a.m. when Nana Barate abused her while demanding to know what she was doing at the polling centre.Minor squabbles involving supporters of various parties were also reported from Satranjiwala Chowk, Vishrantwadi, Dias Plot slums and Hadapsar areas. However, the police had not filed any cases in this connection till late in the evening.Elaboratesecurity arrangements were made to ensure peaceful polling in Pune in the wake of the blasts at Coimbatore and Mumbai. The police had commenced anti-sabotage checks at various public places including all major bus termini and railway stations since last evening.A total of 4,000 constables, three companies of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a company of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), 188 PSIs, 46 Inspectors, 14 Assistant Commissioners of Police and six Deputy Commissioners of Police were involved in the exercise. The help of 1,200 Home Guards and 300 Civil Defence Force (CDF) volunteers was also sought.Slides cautioning the public in general about improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were screened at various cinema halls. All vehicles entering the city were checked thoroughly on various highways. A total of 2,577 preventive arrests were made ever since the code of conduct was imposed.Special squads comprising of a PSI and ten constables were formed to patrol in 15 areas identified assensitive localities. Eighteen video cameras were used to curb malpractices.
