Kolkata: Justice Amrita Sinha of Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered CBI probe over alleged tampering of documents concerning rural polls and has asked the central agency to submit the report before the court by July 7, a day before rural poll.
“The allegations are against state government officials. Since the state agency cannot probe into such cases, the probe has been handed over to CBI,” said Justice Sinha.
Congress state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that their workers were denied party symbols during the scrutiny of the nominations.
Chowdhury who had agitated in front of Burwan BDO office in Murshidabad protesting the ‘untoward’ incident said that no one from the state administration had visited him or given him any assurance.
“We didn’t want money from the state government, be it personal or earned by unfair means. We just wanted to contest the elections in free and fair means,” mentioned Chowdhury.
Congress leader Soumya Aich Roy complained, “The form B given to our candidates was destroyed. The court had asked that our candidates should be accompanied by central forces or SP in the absence of central forces to get their forms.”
The incidents of such alleged tampering happened in Uluberia Block 1, Murshidabad’s Burwan and in Bhangor.
In Bhangor several CPI (M) candidates complained that despite filing their nomination their names were missing from the State Election Commission (SEC) website.
In Uluberia, CPI (M) candidate Kashmira Bibi said, “I had filed my nomination including my OBC certificate. But BDO said that my OBC certificate was missing. I think it has been destroyed for which I had to inform my party.”
Justice Sinha however asked to preserve and submit the video recording of the proceedings at the panchayat election office in Uluberia I block to CBI.
