Booth capturing in Tiruvanmiyur: Case registered against 11 men

Tiruvanmiyur police have booked 11 men in connection with the booth capture incident reported in Odaikuppam area on Saturday, during the local body elections. 

The main accused Kathirvel and 10 others have been booked under Section 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of IPC and Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act, said police. However, no arrest has been made yet. The case has been registered based on a complaint of the election flying squad. 

After inquiries, police said that Kathirvel, who is the kin of Tiruvanmiyur DMK ward secretary Jayakumar, decided to rig the polls at the 179th ward due to a low turn out voters as he thought it might affect the victory of DMK candidate contesting there. 

Kathirvel along with 10 other men barged into the polling booth around 4 pm, wielding knives and damaged the EVM after sending out the booth agents and election staff.

Tension prevailed in the area due to the incident and polling was affect for about an hour until a new EVM was brought to replace the damaged the machine. 

Tiruvanmiyur police took DMK ward secretary Jayakumar to the police station for an inquiry in connection with the incident, leading to a protest of DMK cadre blocking the traffic in Tiruvanmiyur. 

Mobile phone clips of the protest and agitators arguing with motorists trying to pass through them went viral. 

Tiruvanmiyur police have also booked the AIADMK woman Kala on the charges of distributing cash to voters in front of a polling booth in their jurisdiction. A case has been registered against her under section 171E (bribery) of IPC, said police.

She was caught distributing cash to voters by DMK cadre and handed over to the election flying squad on Saturday morning.