Two Polling Officials Die in Karnataka & Chhattisgarh

A polling officer died of a heart attack in a polling booth number in Chamarajanagar district.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: PTI)

A polling officer died of a heart attack in polling booth number 48 near Sultan Sharif Circle of Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka, on Thursday, 18 April. According to police, he collapsed at the booth around 9 am and was declared dead at a hospital.

The polling official has been identified as 53-year-old Shanthamurthy, a resident of Chamarajanagar. A lecturer at the Government Pre-University College in Hanur, Shanthamurthy was deployed for election duty at booth number 48, reported The News Minute.

He was walking out of the booth at 9 am when he suffered a cardiac arrest. Security personnel called for an ambulance and rushed to the Chamarajanagar District Hospital. Doctors declared him dead and he did not respond to treatment, The News Minute reported.

Shanthamurthy's family, two children and his wife, will reportedly be offered Rs 15 lakh as compensation.

“The Election Commission has decided to give a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to the family of officers who died while performing election duty. They will be rightly compensated. This is an extremely unfortunate incident," DC Kaveri told The News Minute.

Another Incident in Kanker, Chhattisgarh

Earlier in the day, in another incident, a teacher, who was on election duty at a polling booth in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, died of a heart attack, news agency PTI quoted an official as saying.

The deceased, Tukalu Ram Nareti, an assistant teacher in a government school, was deputed as the polling officer at Kamta booth (No 186) in Antagarh area of Kanker Lok Sabha constituency where voting was underway, the official from the local administration said.

Nareti complained of chest pain around 6 am and fell unconscious at the polling station. He was immediately rushed to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead, the official said.

The body was sent for postmortem, he said. Another officer was deployed at the polling booth in place of Nareti, he added.

The state recorded 7.75 percent voter turnout till 9 am, on Thursday.

A total of 95 seats across 12 states and one Union territory are voting in the second phase of polls.

(With inputs from PTI and The News Minute)