23 individuals were arrested after villagers from Masabinala in Vijayapura district intercepted a poll duty vehicle transporting electronic voting machines (EVMs), physically assaulted an officer, and caused harm to the control and ballot units on Wednesday, the Election Commission said.
As per the statement by the Election Commission, the villagers halted the transportation of reserved Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the Assembly elections, which were being carried in a vehicle by a section officer. During this incident, two control and ballot units, as well as three Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs), were reportedly damaged.
"Sector officer was manhandled. 23 people arrested", the poll body said, adding that top district officials rushed to the village, which comes under Basavana Bagewadi Assembly segment.
As per information from the Police, the villagers' actions were reportedly influenced by rumors that officials were tampering with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs).
In a separate incident in the Padmanabhanagar constituency, a group of young individuals armed with sticks allegedly assaulted their political opponents at a polling booth located in Papaiah Garden.
