Man detained after damaging EVM at polling booth

A 26-year-old man allegedly damaged an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) by hitting it with an iron object when he came to cast his vote at a polling booth at Rampuri in Maharashtra's Nanded district on Friday, a police official said.

The police detained the man, who told them that he wanted a pro-farmer and pro-labourer government, he said.

"The man, Bhaiyyasaheb Edke, is a local resident and a registered voter of Rampuri booth. He came to the polling booth to cast his vote, but damaged an EVM with an iron object. He was immediately detained and the voting process continued soon afterwards as the broken machine was replaced with a new one," Nanded Superintendent of Police (SP) Shrikrushna Kokate told PTI.

Police have launched an investigation to know the motive behind his act of damaging the EVM, he said.

"The man says he wants a pro-farmer and pro-labourer government in place. We are trying to find out if he is linked to any political party. He is well-educated and has done courses in law and journalism. He was in Pune for 10 months before he returned to his village," the SP added.