Guwahati: In an unfortunate incident, a polling officer died in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district in a road accident on Sunday, a day ahead of voting.
The accident occurred on Saturday night when the vehicle was on its way to Jangrapara LP School in which polling officials was travelling overturned, the official said.
Following the incident, the other officials and security personnel reported minor injuries. They were taken to Tikrikilla community health centre from where two polling officers are being referred to a higher medical facility in Goalpara, official stated.
Meanwhile, one polling officer, identified as Chesham Ch Marak, suffered head injuries were later taken to Guwahati where he was declared brought dead at the hospital, official said.
However, the electronic voting machines (EVM) were safely collected and secured by a sector magistrate and accompanied by security forces were taken to the concerned polling station.
Chief Electoral Officer, Meghalaya FR Kharkongor, consoled the official’s death and extended an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 15 lakh which will be paid to the next of kin.
The official said that over 19,000 election officials are being deputed to man 3,419 polling stations across the state. Around 119 companies of CAPFs are being deployed in the state for the elections.
Elections to the 59 assembly seats will be held on Monday in which over 21.6 lakh registered voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. The votes will be counted on March 2.
