BJP's North Tripura district President, Kajal Das found himself in the eye of a storm after allegedly assaulting a presiding officer at a polling station during the phase 2 polls for the Tripura East constituency.
Das was accused of beating up presiding officer Narayan Chakraborty at the booth under the Bagbassa assembly segment during the second phase of the parliamentary polls on April 26.
The incident occurred when the presiding officer was requesting electors to maintain the queue and collect 'tokens' as they were waiting to cast their votes around 5 pm, the closing time for the voting process.
An FIR was lodged against the accused on Sunday after a purported video of the attack on the presiding officer went viral on social media.
The video, a testament to the brazenness of the assault, sparked widespread condemnation and triggered swift legal action.
The gravity of the offence warranted charges under sections 353, 332, and 131 of the Representation of People's Act, in addition to section 34 of the IPC.
The officer in charge of the Kadamtala police station, Jayanta Debnath, led a meticulous investigation, drawing upon inputs from sector officers, micro observers, and the incriminating viral footage.
The video, a compelling piece of evidence, facilitated the unequivocal identification of Das.
Based on the FIR, police arrested Kajal Das for attacking the presiding officer at a polling booth of the Bagbassa assembly segment on Monday.
He was sent to a court in Dharmanagar for remand," affirmed North Tripura Superintendent of Police Bhanupada Chakraborty.
Meanwhile, another incident, marred by allegations of electoral malpractice, cast a shadow over the electoral landscape.
BJP MLA Yadav Lal Nath and his cohorts reportedly stormed the same booth under the Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency on April 26, purportedly accosting BLO Chinmoy Das, despite the legislator's absence from the roster of voters allocated to the booth.
Nath, the Bagbassa MLA, found himself in the crosshairs of official scrutiny, as the district election officer issued a notice admonishing him for "manhandling the booth-level officer" (BLO).
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