Sporadic incidence of violence reported in west Uttar Pradesh

BAREILY/BIJNOR: The second phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday was largely peaceful, though sporadic incidents of violence in various parts of the state left seven people injured. Local leaders of Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) entered into a scuffle at a polling booth in Badaun. It soon snowballed into a clash, with some of the leaders breaking vehicles.Voting was affected for around 30 minutes. Police had to be called to control the situation. At the time of filing of this report, no FIR was registered, police said.
According to eyewitnesses, the local cadre of BJP alleged that the SP leaders were indulging in unfair voting practices at Islamia ground polling centre. Both parties started pelting stones at each other, after which they started breaking motorcycles parked in the vicinity and broke some furniture too. Speaking to TOI, BJP candidate from Badaun (Sadar) seat, Mahesh Gupta, said, “We received information that SP workers were indulging in unfair practices. When we confronted them, they started physically assaulting us. The matter, however, was controlled.”
Station officer, Kotwali police station, Lokesh Pal Singh said, “We have not received any complaint yet from anyone. Thankfully, nobody was injured in the scuffle.”
Bijnor also similar scuffle between SP and BSP supporters, which left seven injured. Locals said the scuffle was also related to one camp accusing the other of illegal voting practices.
According to eyewitnesses, village head-Faraz Ansari, a BSP supporter and former village head Khurshid Ansari, who voiced his support to SP-Congress camp, got into an argument barely 100 metres away from the polling centre. The argument soon escalated with people from both the groups pelting stones at each other and also used sticks and iron rods. The assault left seven people injured, including Faraz Ansari and Khurshid Ansari. They were admitted to Nagina health centre for treatment.
Speaking to TOI, superintendent of police Ajay Sahani claimed, “This looks like a case of enmity between two pradhans. We have detained seven men for questioning and a case has been lodged under relevant sections.”
Police have also registered an FIR against RLD candidate from Noorpur assembly seat, Yogesh Tyagi, for allegedly addressing a gathering of around 50 people at Tajpur village. (With inputs from Harveer Dabas)