70 per cent polling at Athgarh

ATHGARH: The Athgarh by-poll on Sunday registered 70 per cent turnout even as stray incidents of violence were reported at some places.At ward 14 in Sunthipal under Tigiria block, the electronic voting machine (EVM) was snatched away by miscreants when the polling was underway. Cuttack Collector Girish S N told mediapersons that  one Rabinarayan Mohanty had been arrested in this connection but the voting machine was not  recovered. The State Election Commission (SEC) has been informed and re-polling in this ward will be held according to the SEC notification.Stray incidents were also reported from Katakia Sahi, Gopinathpur Sasan, Balarampur, Kakhadi and Kantol areas. Polling officials alleged that police goof- up resulted in the incidents at various booths.Official sources said while voting was below 30 per cent in the morning, voters gathered in large numbers to exercise their franchise after 3 pm. A 90-year-old woman reportedly collapsed after casting her vote.Counting of votes will be done on March 21. BJD candidate Ranendra Pratap Swain and former MLA Ramesh Rout cast their votes at Radhagobindapur booth here.