Farmers Movement Archive

Stray incidents of arson, clashes & booth capturing mark 1st phase of panchayat polls in west UP

Meerut/Agra/Bareilly: The first phase of panchayat elections were held in 18 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday amid sporadic episodes of arson, clashes and loot of ballot boxes. Western UP’s three districts, which went to the polls in the first leg, were hit by the stray incidents of violence. In Saharanpur, two village pradhan contestants and their supporters fought a pitched battle in Jaroda Pada village early Thursday morning, leaving several injured. A car was damaged and another was set on fire by supporters of Naveen Tyagi and Rakesh Singh. Saharanpur’s superintendent of police (rural) Atul Sharma said, “Clash broke out between the two groups at 4am. Both the sides were trying hard to convince the voters. The injured have been sent to hospital and one person has been taken into custody. Peaceful polling was conducted in the village.” The district witnessed yet another tragic incident when three persons, including two women, returning after casting votes met with a tragic end when a speeding car hit them. 55-year-old Rekha Dhiman, Rukhmani Dhiman and Yashpal, 43, were killed in Sorana village. Four others were injured. While in Agra, police arrested 26 people, including two village pradhan candidates, after they allegedly looted two ballot boxes from a polling booth after a clash amid allegations of fake voting in Rihavali village. Talking to TOI, Agra’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Muniraj G, said, “They (the accused) will also be booked under NSA. The ballot boxes will also be recovered soon. Police force has been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incident.” “During the clash, three persons including village pradhan candidates Malkhan Singh and Layak Singh were injured,” said SP (East) K Venkat Ashok. Agra’s district magistrate Prabhu N Singh said that sub-divisional magistrate and police personnel were present when the incident took place between the two groups. “We are sending a report to the election commission regarding the incident. Date for re-poll will be decided by them accordingly,” he said. Another ballot box was looted in Agra’s Chandsaura village as the polling was drawing to a close at 6pm. In Rampur, DM and SP rushed to Bilaspur area after allegation of bogus voting “to provide advantage to BJP-backed” candidates. Security has been tightened around the polling booths and all the voters were cross-checked, said a senior official. Situated on the border of UP and Uttarakhand, Bilaspur has a large Sikh population. In most of its villages, BJP-backed candidates were facing opposition. Two persons from this area have lost their lives during the protests against the farm laws. Block president Ravinder Kaur told TOI, “They had captured the booth and were casting fake votes. My husband Ujjawal Deedar Singh is contesting for BDC from here. We were not allowed to deploy an agent on the booth to keep an eye. I was also not allowed to stay at the booth. I have raised this issue with the election commission and senior police officers. I hope that they will cancel the elections at Ramnagar booth number 273.” But BJP minister and MLA from Bilaspur constituency, Baldev Singh Aulakh, told TOI, “Ujjawal Deedar Singh and his supporters had opened fire at few people campaigning for my brother. One of them sustained a pellet injury as well which is why an FIR was registered. They didn’t get any booth agent because their agent was from another village.” Violence was also reported after polling in Hathras’s Tharora village. Locals attacked Sehpau police station and pelted stones on police personnel. One policeman was thrashed. According to sources, several residents of the village turned violent after one person, who was allegedly picked up by the police, was allegedly beaten up by policemen. ADG (Agra zone) Rajeev Krishna said exact details were not immediately available and that he has sought information on it. “The situation was now under control. Additional police force has been deployed in the area to avoid any further escalation of violence,” he added.

The Times of India

2021-04-16

Meerut