4 held in Andhra for ruckus at vote counting centre

Kandarada (Andhra Pradesh), Feb 11 : Four persons were arrested on charge of creating a ruckus during counting of votes polled in the first of the four-phased rural local body elections, police said on Thursday.

Vakapalli Suribabu, 37, Saitana Varaprasad, 50, Vasamshetty Sudhakar, 20, and Saitana Karunakar, 42, were arrested from Kandarada village in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district on Wednesday evening. Kandarada is 16 km north of Kakinada.

They had barged into the counting centre, created ruckus, threatened officials and prevented them from counting votes on Tuesday night.

Acting on a complaint filed by the Returning Officer, police registered a case under Sections 120-B, 188, 452, 353, 506, 171-C read with 171-F and 34 of the Indian Penal Code at the Pithapuram rural police station.

Even as the four were remanded in custody, police said it was on the lookout for more persons involved in the ruckus.

“The accused entered the counting centre at the Zilla Parishad school on Tuesday after elections for Kandarada Sarpanch’s post and 12 more wards,” said a police official.

East Godavari district Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi had ordered Kakinada DSP V Bhima Rao to handled the case, following which police zeroed in on the four accused based on investigation.

Except for a few violations, the first phase elections passed off peacefully in the southern state on Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.