Firing, vote tampering mar panchayat poll; turnout 77%

More than 10 persons were injured as clashes and incidents of firing, booth capturing and vote tampering were reported during the panchayat elections in Punjab on Tuesday.

The elections to the posts of sarpanch and panch saw a turnout of approximately 77 per cent, State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari said.

Six persons were injured in firing at Sohan Sain Bhagat (Tarn Taran) and Khudda (Patiala) while clashes and stone-throwing were reported from various parts of the state during the course of voting. A police officer was also injured in clashes near Patran (Patiala), while two persons sustained minor injuries in a clash at Karamgarh village of Barnala. In Khudda, miscreants reportedly barged into a polling booth and forcibly took away the ballot box, which was later recovered in a burnt condition from a nearby field. In Chicharwala village of Patiala and Lohke Khurd village of Ferozepur, miscreants reportedly poured liquid into the ballot boxes, ruining the votes that had been polled.