Barring some incidents, Punjab polling peaceful: Election officer

Amid reports of three firing incidents in Punjab, state Chief Electoral Officer V.K. Singh on Saturday said polling was by and large peaceful in 117 assembly constituencies as well as for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat by-election.

"The election was largely peaceful and the poll was completed successfully," Singh told the media after the voting ended at 5 p.m.

Singh said Punjab recorded 70 per cent polling till 5 p.m. (74 per cent at 7 p.m.) and it was expected to go up as many people were still queued up at various polling stations.

Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) V.K. Bhawra told the media that one Jagjit Singh was shot in the leg in Lalu Ghumman village of Tarn Taran district.

"Desa Singh, the village headman, has been taken into custody and an FIR registered against him. There was a scuffle followed by firing in this case," Bhawra said.

He said two more incidents of firing were reported from Guru Harsahai and Derabassi assembly seats.

He said unidentified persons fired in the air outside a polling booth in Guru Harsahai while the second incident in Lohgarh village of Zirakpur (near Chandigarh) in Derabassi segment could not be verified.

Singh said many electronic voting machines and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail machines had to be replaced as these did not function properly during mock voting and later during actual voting.

--IANS

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