Violence in Handia during counting of votes

PRAYAGRAJ: Tension prevailed in Handia after supporters of two opposite panchayat poll aspirants clashed alleging anomalies in counting of votes. Large crowd of villagers created ruckus on Prayagraj-Varanasi highway and pelted stones on cops and vehicles. Police had to open fire in the air and use force to control the situation. Heavy force was being rushed to Handia till reports last came in.

According to reports, supporters of village head aspirant of ward 5 in Handia, Anjali Yadav started creating ruckus alleging anomalies in counting of votes even before final results were declared before 5 pm. They alleged that there was a conspiracy to provide advantage during counting of votes to Nandini, wife of former minister Rakeshdhar Tripathi’s nephew Bulbul Tripathi. Soon large number of residents of Jamshedpur and Aasepur villages came out on the highway and resorted to violence. The supporters of two panchayat poll aspirants clashed and threw stones on cops when they tried to intervene.

SDM Ajay Narayan reached the scene and tried to control the situation. Police opened fire in the air to disperse the crowd. Senior police officials also rushed to the scene with heavy force to restore order. SP transGanga Dhawal Jaiswal said heavy force has been deployed in the area and persons involved in violence were being identified.

Three held for attacking panchayat poll official

Manda police arrested three persons for allegedly attacking a panchayat poll official during counting of votes on Monday.SP trans-Yamuna Saurabh Dixit said police team arrested Vashishth Narayan Mishra, Santosh Mishra and Manoj Mishra, all residents of Tisentulapur village.

The trio had attacked panchayat poll official Saurabh Srivastava while he was on duty during vote counting. They also damaged documents and furniture at the counting place after an argument with the official.