Officer foils bogus voting attempt

THANE: Threats and bribes did not deter an upright presiding officer, Sanjay Gawande, from doing his duty at a polling station in Raigad district on Monday.
Gawande foiled an attempt, allegedly by workers of the Congress party, to indulge in bogus voting at the Raave polling station, which had been declared sensitive.
Raave is 10 km from Pen and has an electorate of 1,343 voters.In his statement to the Pen police, Gawande said he had been offered Rs 10,000 by some Congress workers who wanted to indulge in bogus voting.
He rejected the offer, which infuriated the workers and they threatened him with dire consequences. Gawande immediately reported the matter to district collector Bhaskar Wankhede, who sent a police team to help the presiding officer.
When contacted by TNN, Gawande, who works as a garden inspector with the Thane Municipal Corporation, said he had named in the FIR the miscreants who wanted to cast bogus votes. “I am happy that I could perform my duty honestly,’’ said Gawande.