Tension in Ratabari, Sonai after EVM, firing incidents

Tension prevailed in Southern Assam’s Ratabari and Sonai, a day after EVMs were found in the car of BJP MLA Krishnendu Paul from Patharkandi and three persons were injured in firing by PSOs of deputy Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar in Sonai.

A senior police official, who did not want to be named, told ET: “Problem had started when Laskar visited a polling station. A voter who entered the polling booth without voters’ slips was asked to leave by CRPF personnel. The voter went out and informed others that he was not allowed to vote, following which a large mob turned up questioning the presence of Laskar and there was stone-pelting.” The officer added, “ Laskar was caught in the polling booth for more than 45 minutes, his PSO opened fire in which three people were injured. Police had to baton charge and fire in the air to quell the mob".

Laskar said that his visit to the polling booth was a routine one. There was violence in Kalaigaon in Bodoland when two persons - Ismail Ali, Mosaruddin Ahmed -secured bullet wounds after Security forces fired rounds when locals obstructed EVM movement.


Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted: “Every time there is a video of private vehicles transporting EVMs, unsurprisingly they have the following things in common: One, the vehicles belongs to BJP candidates or their associates. Two, the videos are taken as a one-off incident and dismissed as aberrations and three, the BJP uses its media machinery to accuse those who exposed the videos as sore losers.