Seventh phase polls: Widespread violence in Bengal; voting machine thrown into pond

NEW DELHI: Widespread violence in West Bengal during the seventh phase of polling. At Kultali in South 24 Parganas district, a mob stormed a polling station and threw a stolen electronic voting machine into a pond. Trinamool, BJP, CPM and ISF workers clashed in several parts of the state. Polling was held in the seventh phase in 9 constituencies including Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee's Diamond Harbour and Sandeshkhali's Basirhat.

At Kultali in South 24 Parganas district at 6.40 am, a mob stormed the Jainagar polling station and seized the voting machine and the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine. The crowd threw them into a nearby pond before the police could stop them. Officials said that the violence was carried out by activists of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) alleging that their their polling agents were blocked. Election officials deployed additional voting machines to ensure smooth polling.

ISF-CPM supporters clashed in Satulia area of ​​Bhangar in Jadavpur constituency near Kolkata. Homemade bombs were detonated during the violence. The tension that started on Friday night in Sandeshkhali, where Trinamool leader Shahjahan Sheikh was arrested, continued today morning too. BJP alleged that Sheikh's goons and Trinamool Congress workers were threatening them.

A media worker was injured in stone pelting during a Trinamool-BJP clash in Itkhola area at Canning in South 24 Parganas district. A woman worker was injured in a clash between Trinamool and ISF workers in Bhangar in the morning. ISF candidate Noor Alam Khan's vehicle was vandalized. Taking voting into account, 1,020 companies of central forces were deployed in the state. 1,960 Quick Response (QRT) teams have also been deployed.