Bokaro/Dhanbad: Two separate incidents of alleged assault and misbehaviour with booth level officers (BLOs) engaged in enumeration for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll have raised concerns over the safety and treatment of polling personnel.In Giridih, Ruby Praveen, 57, an anganwadi sevika deployed as a BLO, alleged that she was assaulted, abused and her mobile phone was snatched while conducting door-to-door voter verification and mapping in ward 25 on Thursday. According to her complaint lodged on Friday, the incident occurred around 4:30 pm after she completed verification work for the day.Praveen alleged that a voter, Mohammad Faiyaz, intercepted her and insisted that his family’s enumeration be completed immediately. When she requested him to wait until the next day, two other relatives — Mohammad Azaz and Mohammad Ejaz — joined him and allegedly pressured her to continue the exercise. She claimed they abused her, misbehaved with her and snatched her mobile.The incident triggered protests by dozens of BLOs who gathered at Nagar police station on Friday and submitted a complaint demanding strict action. They said polling staff should be able to carry out Election Commission duties without intimidation or interference and warned that such incidents could hamper the voter verification drive.Nagar police station officer in-charge Ratan Kumar Singh said, “An FIR was lodged against the three accused and an investigation was under way.”In Dhanbad, the district administration issued a show-cause notice to circle officer Rampravesh Kumar over allegations that he verbally abused and made objectionable remarks against BLO Meera Kumari during an inspection at a voter form distribution and collection centre in Barmasia.Deputy commissioner Aditya Ranjan said such remarks were unacceptable from a govt officer, particularly during an important election-related exercise.Kumari, an anganwadi worker for 12 years, alleged that the officer humiliated her by commenting on her attire. She subsequently boycotted the SIR exercise and demanded action. She said BLOs were not provided uniforms, identity cards or other basic facilities despite being entrusted with election duties.
