Jamshedpur, Dec 7:
Ruckus was witnessed at
over a half a dozen polling
booths in Jamshedpur East
Assembly constituency on
the completion of the sec-
ond phase of elections on
Saturday.
Independent can-
didate Saryu Roy and his
supporters raised objection
over the manner in which
electronic voting machines
(EVMs) were carried to and
out of polling booths at
Shishu Kendra, Little
Flower School, Telco, East
Plant Basti, Golmuri Cable
Town and Sakchi
Gurudwara School.
Around 4.30 pm, several
supporters of Roy and vot-
ers saw EVMs being carried
by police personnel in their
hands and went on agitation
demanding a high-level
probe. The voters alleged
that some cops were also
seen carrying EVMs to
polling booths without any
complaint about faulty
EVMs. They said the EVMs
were seen outside few
booths in Jamshedpur East
constituency. At one place,
EVM was also reportedly
found in an auto-rickshaw,
sources claimed.
At Vidya Bharati
Chinmaya Vidyalaya,
Telco, people agitated over
alleged anomalies in han-
dling of EVMs. The magis-
trate on duty somehow paci-
fied them. News of the
ruckus related to exchange
of EVMs at several polling
booths hit the social media
platforms and spread like
wildfire. Agitation was wit-
nessed at booth number
239, 240, 241, 242, 245 and 246. Local residents alleged
that few cops were seen tak-
ing EVMs into Cable Basti
booths. At booths 245 and
246, people seized an EVM
and demanded probe into
the incident.
Saryu Roy went to Cable
Town and Sakchi after com-
ing to know about the EVM
incident. Deputy
Commissioner-cum-District
Returning Officer Ravi
Shankar Shukla and SSP
Anoop Birtharay too,
reached the ruckus venue
and tried to pacify the agi-
tated crowd. They said few
EVMs are kept in reserve
with the sector magistrate.
This caused confusion in
the minds of some people,
said the DC.
The DC appealed to Roy
and other agitators to have
faith in the district adminis-
tration and assured to look
into the allegations. Roy
thereafter asked his support-
ers and others to calm
down.