The Election Commission of India (ECI) has removed more than 50,000 instances of unauthorised political publicity that had caused defacement of public and private properties across East and West Burdwan, as part of its extensive drive.
In East Burdwan, the ECI removed 16,101 defacements from public property, along with 381 from private properties following complaints from respective homeowners. The figures for West Burdwan stand at 31,452 and 3,352 respectively. In West Burdwan, the number of removals from public property was the second highest in the state, after 31,789 in North 24-Parganas. Kalimpong recorded the lowest number of such complaints at 593.
Across Bengal, defacements from 311,829 public properties and 19,901 private properties had been removed till Monday, the state’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Arindam Niyogi, stated in an official release.
Yesterday, two ECI officials, Bittu Gupta and Suryakanta Pal, were allegedly assaulted by local Trinamul Congress supporters in Durgapur. The officials had received a complaint that the party had painted the wall of a sub-post office at Karangapara near Durgapur railway station. Police later arrested local TMC leader Somnath Das and two aides in connection with the incident.
The ECI has also seized 67 unlicensed firearms, 96 cartridges, and 337 bombs across the state since the election was announced. The commission estimates a total of 52,814 licensed firearms in Bengal, of which 29,775 have already been deposited with the authorities by their owners, officials said today.