Ahead of Polls, Nodal Election Officer Goes Missing in West Bengal

Arnab Roy was on duty at Bipradas Choudhury Polytechnic College, where he was in charge of the EVMs and VVPATs.

(Photo: PTI)

Nadia District Nodal Election Officer Arnab Roy reportedly went missing on Thursday, 18 April, from West Bengal's Nadia district, where he was on poll duty at a college, reported ANI.

Roy was on duty at Bipradas Choudhury Polytechnic College, where he was in charge of the EVMs and VVPATs placed there. However, after lunch, he went missing and has been untraceable since then.

Both his mobile phones have also been switched off since then, reports said.

"After Shantipur his location could not be detected as his phones were switched off. This is making it difficult for us to locate him," another police officer said, reported PTI.

According to the Bengali portal of The Indian Express, Roy is responsible for all the EVMs in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Nadia district.

A missing persons report has been filed at the Krishnanagar police station on Thursday night and an investigation has been launched. Roy's wife too lodged a complaint.

Election Commission sources said that a report was sought from the district magistrate on Roy going missing, reported PTI.

Roy had been driven to the polling venue in a car owned by the Nadia district administration, the report said. However, after lunch, he disappeared, while the car remained there.

The driver of the car was also not able to provide any answers about his whereabouts. He is now being questioned by the police.

Initial investigation revealed that Roy had an alleged tiff a few days back with Nadia District Magistrate Sumit Gupta, who was also his neighbour, on some operational duties in connection with the elections.

When contacted, Gupta, however, denied having any altercation with Roy.

"Whoever has told you such a thing has given a wrong information. Nothing has happened between us. We have initiated a search for him," Gupta told PTI.

Ranaghat Parliamentary constituency, considered to be a stronghold of Trinamool Congress, will go to polls on 29 April.

(With inputs from IEBangla, PTI and ANI.)