Gunfire, abduction claims mar Nainital panchayat polls; HC orders re-election
Uttarakhand high court also ordered re-election for the district panchayat president after Congress alleged kidnapping of members; missing members still untraced, court directed strict action. Congress called the order a win for democracy, while rivals accused it of vitiating the atmosphere with unfounded charges.
Congress district president Rahul Chimwal said, "Six of our district panchayat members were abducted near the district panchayat office," and that the incident, caught on video, happened in full view of police officers.
BJP candidate Deepa Darmwal, in a complaint to Tallital police station, alleged, "Congress workers assaulted and abducted four BJP-backed panchayat members."
Senior Congress functionaries approached high court, with leader of the opposition Yashpal Arya sharing the purported abduction video online. Former Congress MLA Sanjeev Arya accused BJP members of kidnapping and assaulting him and Yashpal Arya. The court directed that ten petitioning members vote under security, ordered the senior superintendent of police to trace five allegedly abducted members, and asked them to appear in court with the district magistrate at 4:30pm.
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Violence also broke out during block chief elections in Betalghat. A villager was shot in the leg and taken to Betalghat hospital. Video footage showed a young man firing two shots. Congress leaders called it political sabotage and accused rivals of disrupting the polls.
BJP MLA Sarita Arya denied the allegations, saying, "These kidnapping claims are completely baseless and politically motivated. They brought in hired goons from Bazpur to create unrest."
She also alleged the missing members might have been hidden by Congress leaders themselves.
Police told TOI that they reached the scene quickly after receiving information. "A dispute between two parties escalated into firing," a police official said. An FIR named 12 accused and 10–15 unidentified persons. Several arrests have been made, and special teams are tracing the main accused who fled after the incident.
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