25 arrested for attack on election officials

The situation in the Kalol Mamlatdar’s Office turned tense on Tuesday,when 50 villagers from Bakrol led by Narpadsinh told Taluka Development Officer T S Goswami and Mamlatdar R K Jadhav that will not allow counting to take place.

Station In-Charge,Sub-Inspector V S Patel,said: “We had examined the lock of the strongroom. It looked defective. When the strongroom was opened in the presence of the five candidates,we found that the cloth cover and the lac seal were intact while the lock was open. Chauhan demanded that elections be held again,which the election officials did not allow. When we tried to resist them,they tried to assault our officers.” He said that election officials and the police tried to assure Chauhan that even if the lock was not working properly,the EVMs were protected.

Later,on Wednesday morning,the police came to Bakrol village and arrested Narpadsinh.

Goswami told The Indian Express that he is on leave,while Jadhav said that the rumour about the defective lock was spread by Chauhan and his supporters to prevent the peaceful passage of the Kalol Gram Panchayat Election. Subhash Sangram Thakore,the opponent of Dilipsinh was elected the gram panchayat sarpanch.

SP J R Mothaliya said that the situation is under control after the arrest of Chauhan and 24 others from the village.