Ballot box set on fire in Ferozepur, 1 killed

We have recommended the cancellation of the polling at Lakhmir Ke Hedar. After the State Election Commission gives its permission, repolling will be held.

BALWINDER SINGH DHALIWAL, deputy commissioner, Ferozepur

FEROZEPUR/FAZILKA: Amid the death of a person that led to cancellation of polling in a Ferozepur village and some minor clashes, polling, by and large, remained peaceful in Ferozepur and Fazilka districts. About 11.15am, a dozen miscreants, armed with sharp-edged weapons, barged into a polling booth at Lakhmir Ke Hedar village under Mamdot, a rural town of Ferozepur, 32km from district headquarters.

Before the four policemen, led by an assistant sub-inspector could respond, the miscreants had set the ballot box on fire. As they tried to flee the spot in an SUV (MH-12-FY-9668), their vehicle hit and dragged one Mahinder Singh, 60, who was on a motorcycle, to death. Two other bystanders were injured.

Meanwhile, villagers present at the spot lost their temper and surrounded the SUV and overturned it, even as the occupants managed to flee. The villagers sat on a dharna, demanding strict action and the arrest of the miscreants. Ferozepur inspector general Mukhwinder Singh Chinna, deputy commissioner Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal and SSP Pritam Singh led a heavy police force to successfully pacify the villagers.

“We have recommended the cancellation of the polling at Lakhmir Ke Hedar. After the State Election Commission gives its permission, repolling will be held,” Dhaliwal added. Later in the evening, two groups, clashed at local Kothi Rai Sahib village, 4km from Ferozepur.

In Tekhuwala village under Jalalabad in Fazilka district, some miscreants threw acid at the ballot boxes. The police came in time and controlled them.