WB panchayat polls: Polling booth vandalised, ballot papers set on fire in Coochbehar

Kolkata (West Bengal): A polling booth at Baravita Primary School in Sitai, Coochbehar has been allegedly vandalised and ballot papers set on fire after voting began for the single-phase panchayat polls in West Bengal on Saturday.

A viral video accessed by ANI shows broken chairs and tables strewn inside a smoke-filled room.

Polling for panchayats in West Bengal began this morning under stringent security cover.

Since the dates for elections were announced on June 8, violence gripped the state. While there were reports of violence in the state around the filing of nominations, similar incidents took place thereafter as well. In the latest flashpoint, just hours ahead of the panchayat polls, a house was vandalised in Murshidabad as the workers of the Trinamool Congress and Congress came to blows on Friday night. A team from the local police station reached the spot after receiving word of the incident.

In another incident, the home of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in West Bengal was allegedly attacked by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers.

The incident took place in the Kalmati area of Bamanhat II Gram Panchayat of Dinhata.

The injured are currently being treated at a private hospital in Coochbehar. Also, police conducted a search operation it received information that crude bombs and weapons have been stockpiled in the South 24 Parganas district. Police said that they received information about bombs and weapons that had been stockpiled to create disturbance during polling for panchayats in the district. However, they added that nothing has been found yet.

Multiple incidents of violence have been reported in the state in the run-up to the panchayat elections.

(ANI)