The municipal election in Kamptee turned turbulent on Tuesday after two major incidents of alleged bogus voting triggered sharp political reactions. Early in the day, residents near the Lala Oli polling booth caught a group of 12 suspected fake voters, claiming they had been promised ₹200 each if they voted for the “clock” symbol. The youths, all from Waghadhare Wadi in Kanhan, were handed over to the police by angry citizens.
In the second and more serious incident, an election flying squad raided the farmhouse of Sunil Agrawal, cousin of BJP’s mayoral candidate Ajay Agrawal, following a tip-off about a bogus-voter team being sheltered there. During the raid, officials detained nine men and three women, and seized bundles of ₹500 notes, liquor bottles, and ink-removal liquid allegedly used to erase the indelible voting mark. A vehicle used to transport the group was also confiscated. However, Sunil Agrawal reportedly fled before police arrived. Mobile phones recovered from the detainees contained messages indicating how many fake votes had already been cast.
These developments prompted Congress and Bahujan Republican Ekta Manch to object to the integrity of the Kamptee election process. Former minister Adv. Sulekha Kumbhare condemned the incident as “an attack on democracy,” while Congress state vice-president Suresh Bhoyar alleged that the BJP was repeating the same bogus-voting strategy used during previous Assembly elections. Police investigations were ongoing at the time of report.
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