Bhubaneswar, Feb 15: In the wake of violence in the ongoing panchayat elections including instances in which polling parties are attacked in some places of the State, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Tuesday issued guidelines for the safety of polling parties. In a communiqué issued to all Collectors and Superintendents of Police (SPs) the SEC said adequate steps should be taken to ensure that the polling party returns to the Block Headquarters with police escorts. Citing that ballot papers and ballot boxes were snatched in some places by miscreants during return journey of the polling parties after conducting the poll in respective wards on Monday, the Commission said that the polling party instead of coming on their own shall be escorted by the Sector Officer with an armed guard and the police mobile parties. The Commission stressed that all the sector officers/executive magistrates/ mobile police parties/ senior administrative and police officers shall monitor safe return of the polling parties and polled materials.
