Khurda: BJP workers held a protest outside the sub-collector office here, Monday demanding the unconditional release of the party Assembly nominee Prasanta Kumar Jagadev who was arrested on charges of vandalising an EVM during polling, May 25. They also threatened to stage a blockade on the national highway and call for a bandh in Khurda town if the Chilika MLA was not released. The saffron party workers also alleged that the ruling BJD hatched a conspiracy to arrest Jagadev, who is contesting from the Khurda Assembly segment this time, and demanded the CCTV footage of the polling booth be made public. BJP MP and Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha candidate Aparajita Sarangi said, “Locals claimed that Jagadev did not destroy any EVM. Why is CCTV footage of the polling booth not being examined? The police must make the footage of the booth public.” Jagadev was arrested by the police Saturday for allegedly vandalising the EVM at the Kaunripatna booth in the Begunia Assembly segment where he, along with his wife, had gone to cast votes, May 25.
Khurda Superintendent of Police (SP) Avinash Kumar said the BJP candidate was arrested based on an FIR filed by the presiding officer of the polling booth in Bolagad block’s Kaunripatna where he is a voter. Jagadev was booked under various Sections of the IPC and the Representation of People’s Act, the SP said. In his complaint, the presiding officer alleged that the MLA created disturbances at the booth, obstructed the voting process and abused polling personnel there, Kumar said. On May 25, polling was held simultaneously for six Lok Sabha seats and 42 Assembly constituencies in the state.