Ink row: FIR registered against unknown persons

An FIR has been registered against "unknown persons" in connection with the ink row during the Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana as per the direction of Election Commission, police said.
"We have registered a FIR against unknown persons after we received a complaint from the Deputy electoral officer here," SHO of Sector 3 Police Station, Inspector Poonam Dilawari said here today.
Indicting Haryana Assembly secretary R K Nandal in the ink row during Rajya Sabha poll, Election Commission had yesterday recommended disciplinary action against him for concealment of facts and negligence and ordered lodging of an FIR against "unknown persons".

BJP-supported independent candidate Subhash Chandra had defeated Congress and INLD-backed R K Anand in the Biennial Election to Council of States from Haryana, held in June this year.
A row had erupted after votes of 12 MLAs of Congress and allies were declared invalid for marking their preferences with a pen other than the one officially supplied, prompting the Congress and INLD to allege foul play.
The EC has written to the Haryana Chief Secretary recommending strong disciplinary action against Nandal.
In a letter to the state Chief Electoral Officer, the EC had further said that an FIR under various sections of IPC and The Representation of the People Act be registered against unknown persons to ensure those behind the incident be identified and booked.

Directing the CEO to lodge the FIR, it said "the persons on election duty or otherwise, whose conduct has resulted in the alleged change of pen/ink leading to rejection of 12 ballot papers, can be identified and booked under the law".