Jajpur: Amidst fourth and final phase polling in Odisha, three polling officials were suspended by Jajpur Collector Ranjan Das today for allegedly influencing voters.
Presiding officer of Binjharpur booth no.191 Baikunthanath Mallick was suspended for influencing voters and violating the secrecy of ballot. The Collector has also directed for Mallick’s arrest. Fourth polling office at booth no.196 in Sukinda, Janardhan Prusty was also suspended for the similar reason.
In Binjharpur’s booth no. 135, Presiding Officer Dhirendranath Tripathy was also suspended for alleged booth rigging and influencing voters. In all the booths, charge has been handed over to Reserve Polling Officers and voting is cuurently underway.
In previous phases too, several Presiding and Sector officers have been suspended for mispairing EVM and VVPAT machines. In the fourth phase, elections is underway in 6 Lok Sabha and 41 Assembly seats of Odisha.
