Bhubaneswar: Voting was not smooth in Odisha as scattered incidents of violence disrupted the phase III voting process at some places, on Saturday.
According to sources, a booth at Athagarh in Cuttack district experienced mob violence during polling.
As per reports, four persons sustained injuries due to a clash between two political groups at booth number 115 at Radhagobindapur under the Athagarh assembly constituency.
Two groups of political outfits engaged in a scuffle during BJD leader Ranendra Pratap Swain’s visit to the booth. Swain had had come to cast his vote.
Sources said, the two groups were engaged in a verbal duel first and later attacked each other with chairs and even exchanged blows in the presence of Swain.
Following the incident, BJD’s Ranendra Pratap had to be escorted by police after he exercised his franchise.
The matter was resolved following the police intervention. Athagarh police and sub-divisional police officer brought the situation under control.
A similar kind of violence is also being reported from other booths of Pipili.
Tension ran high at Brahmagiri booth number 127 over EVM malfunction. BJP MLA candidate Upasana Mohapatra accused the presiding officer of misbehaving with the voters.
Besides, EVM glitches at various polling booths in Odisha led to petty violence in the state.
