Violence erupts in UP's Etawah during Block president polls
Jul 10, 2021
Etawah (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 10 : Violence erupted in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh during the Block president polls on Saturday.
"When the mob was asked to stop from coming near the polling booth, it started stone-pelting and firing. We have all the CCTV footage. We will investigate once the election is over. A case will be filed soon," Senior Superintendent of Police, Etawah Brajesh Kumar Singh told reporters.
Polling for the Block president post started at 11 am on Saturday across Uttar Pradesh. The voting concluded at 3 pm.
There have been several incidents of violence in different parts of Uttar Pradesh during the nomination filing process for block president elections.
On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two persons for misbehaving with a woman candidate while she was filing her nomination for block president election in Lakhimpur Kheri district.
A relative of a candidate contesting for block president elections in Bahraich district was murdered in the early hours on Friday.
According to the police a case has been registered against four people including the BJP candidate for the Block Development Council elections.
BJP candidate Vandana Singh contesting for block president elections in Gorakhpur district was attacked when she reached Chargawan block to file her nomination papers on Thursday. Her supporters were also attacked and around two dozen people including Singh's husband Ranvijay Singh sustained injuries.
Singh has alleged that Samajwadi Party workers pelted stones and vandalised their vehicles and the police resorted to lathi-charge to control the situation.
A clash between the BJP workers and police took place in Basti during the nomination filing process of the block president election. Police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse protesters. Police vehicles were also vandalised during the violence.
In Sitapur, three people suffered critical injuries after a clash broke out between BJP and independent candidate supporters during the nomination filing. Four people have been arrested in connection with the matter.
Five people were injured after violence broke out in Jaunpur between the supporters of two candidates on Wednesday night and several vehicles were vandalised too.
Earlier on Friday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered strict action against the perpetrators and gave instructions to suspend the jurisdictional officer and station in charge.
Charing the meeting of Team 9 on Friday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, "Under no circumstances, any attempt to disrupt the law and order will be accepted. Police must act with extra vigilance and sensitivity. Strict action should be taken by confiscating the weapons of those demonstrating arms."
