A polling team in Arunachal Pradesh was ambushed and the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) among other equipment was snatched by 500 National People¡¯s Party (NPP) supporters. The team was heading to the Nampe polling station in Kurung Kumey district and the incident took place near Langbang on Sunday afternoon.
The Arunachal Times reported the incident and the police told the newspaper that 500 masked men armed with sticks, daos and guns ¡°including AK-47 assault rifles,¡± ambushed the team and snatched EVMs and other equipment.
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Rido Tarek, the magistrate, Nampe sector lodged an FIR at the Koloriang police station and told ¡°the miscreants ambushed our team at around 5 pm.
¡°While doing so, they indiscriminately fired several rounds of bullets with sophisticated weapons, which included AK-47 assault rifles,¡± Tarak said.
The magistrate also told that the parliamentary forces accompanying the polling team didn¡¯t resort to crossing fearing the casualties on both sides. The NPP candidate, however, couldn¡¯t be contacted for comment.?
¡°One platoon of CRPF and two sections of IRBn were escorting the polling equipment to the Nampe polling station, when the ambush was laid. Outnumbered by the armed goons, the security forces and the poll team surrendered the EVMs to them,¡± said a police officer from Koloriang.
The police is now investigating how these people obtained those weapons. ¡°The poll team has safely returned to Koloriang from Langbang,¡± the district election officer (DEO) said.
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The DEO also fresh poll to be conducted on Tuesday and said that an alternative team has been sent from different route to Nampe and said the team might have already reached the said polling station.?
The re-poll notification was issued the Election Commission of India for polling to be conducted in Nambe on Tuesday after scrutiny.? NPP is an ally of BJP and holds 16 out of the 60 seat assembly of the state.