UP re-polls: 42% polling in Kairana till 1 p.m.
Lucknow, May 30: After a slow start, brisk voting began for the re-poll in five polling booths of Shamli and 68 booths in Saharanpur falling under the Kairana parliamentary constituency as 42 per cent votes were recorded here till 1 p.m., an election official said on Wednesday.
Voting began at 7 a.m. amid tight security and only 18.71 per cent polling was recorded in the first two hours, said the Election Commission (EC) official, adding that the polling so far has been peaceful.
There was report of a snag in an Electronic Voting Machine in Bapu village, which has been rectified and the voting has restarted after a brief interruption, the official told here.
A polling agent was taken to task by visiting officials at Sanga Kheda after he was found in possession of a mobile phone inside the booth. There was inconvenience caused at Sirsila village where the polling officials had by mistake announced that repeal would be done on booth number 355 instead of booth number 356.
Many people formed queues outside the wrong booth that led to confusion and anger amongst the voters.
The re-polls have been necessitated after both opposition parties and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged snags in the VVPAT-EVMs during the May 28 by-polls.
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PWD, Google Maps officials booked in Bareilly bridge death case
Budaun (UP), Nov 25: Police here have booked officials of the Public Works Department and Google Maps in connection with the death of three men whose car rolled over an under-construction bridge while following directions on the navigation app, an officer on Monday said.
The car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge in Dataganj Police Station area early Sunday.
Nitin and Ajit, aged 30, both brothers from Farrukhabad district, and Amit, 40, from Mainpuri district, were on their way from Noida to Faridpur in Bareilly to attend a wedding.
According to police, the driver was led by Google Maps into taking the unsafe route.
The incident took place on the Bareilly-Budaun border.
Dataganj Police Station SHO Gaurav Bishnoi said an FIR on charges of laxity in duty and others was filed against four engineers of the PWD, along with some unknown people.
The regional officer of Google Map has also been brought under the scope of investigation. His name is yet to be included in the FIR.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of Google in a statement said, "Our deepest sympathies go out to the families. We're working closely with the authorities and providing our support to investigate the issue."
On Sunday, Faridpur Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said, "Earlier this year, floods caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse onto the river, but this change had not been updated in the system."
He said the bridge had no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach.
