Bengal polls: 809 additional preventive arrests made ahead of 2nd phase of polling

Kolkata, April 28 The Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Tuesday that 809 additional preventive arrests have been made in the last 12 hours from Monday night to Tuesday afternoon in West Bengal ahead of the second phase of polling set to take place on Wednesday.

With this, the total number of preventive arrests from Sunday morning till Tuesday afternoon had increased to 2,397.

On Monday evening, the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) told that 1,095 preventive arrests were made in the last 24 hours since Sunday evening, and the same figure was 1,583 during the last 36 hours since Sunday morning.

However, the ECI on Tuesday had not given the district-wise breakup of arrests of the 809 fresh arrests since Monday night, as it gave on Monday in case of previous arrests of 1,583 individuals.

The ECI this time, had been specially stressed on identification of "potential trouble-makers" throughout the state and taking them into custody to prevent them from disrupting the poll process in any of the two phases of the West Bengal Assembly elections this time.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Calcutta High Court's single judge bench of Justice Krishna Rao refused to intervene on a petition filed against the ECI-appointed police observer Ajay Pal Sharma, who was seen in a video on Monday issuing threats to Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan, a close aide of Abhishek Banerjee, his family members and locals in the Falta Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district's Diamond Harbour.

On Tuesday, a case was filed against Ajay Pal Sharma, the police observer for Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district.

A lawyer representing the case made an appeal to Calcutta High Court with the plea for the court's intervention to stop Ajay Pal Sharma.

However, the full court hearing was not conducted on Tuesday as the process of filing the case was not completed.

However, the judge, after initially hearing the matter, said that he would not interfere in the work of anyone who is in charge of the state elections till April 29, the second phase of the polling in West Bengal, is conducted.

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