Six held for rigging in Assam booth

Presiding officer among those arrested after channel airs footage.

Police on Saturday arrested six polling personnel including the presiding officer, a security personnel and a private videographer following complaints of alleged rigging in a polling station under the Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday.

Assam Chief Electoral Officer Vijeyandra said six persons have been arrested under five Sections of the IPC read with three Sections 135 of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1950. “The six include presiding officer Paresh Hazarika, polling officers Abhoy Nath Bezbarua, Rakhal Chandra Choudhury and Rupam Mazumdar, and Bidyut Saikia, a private video camera-person hired by the Election Commission for official recording of the voting process,” the CEO said. The sixth person is Bimal Boro, a Village Defence Party (VDP) personnel who was not supposed to enter the polling station, but help voters form queues outside. A case was registered at the Baihata police station in Kamrup district under Sections 120(B), 171F, 448, 406 and 409 of the IPC read with Sections 132, 134 and 135A of the RP Act, he said.

While polling in six constituencies in Assam took place on April 24, a local TV news channel Friday aired video footage showing one person wearing an official badge-tag repeatedly going to the EVM enclosure accompanying different voters and pressing the button of the EVM for the voters. The polling station located in the Bor-Nizara LP School (Left Wing), is under Jalukbari assembly segment of the Guwahati LS constituency.

Following the airing of the footage, opposition parties AGP, BJP and AAP lodged separate complaints with the EC alleging malpractice including rigging and demanded immediate action under the provisions of law. “The video footage is enough evidence,” said Shantanu Bharali, general secretary and spokesperson for the state BJP.

“The VDP personnel had no business to be inside the polling booth. His duty is to help voters form queues outside the room,” said additional CEO RC Jain. The polling station which was classified as “safe” had one Assam Police constable and one Home Guard personnel besides five VDP personnel, all of whom have no authority to enter the polling room, he said.

The polling station in question comes under Jalukbari assembly segment represented for the third consecutive term by Assam health and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while BJP national vice-president Bijoya Chakravarty is the sitting MP from Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency.