In a shocker, a man poured petrol and set afire at least three electronic voting machines at a polling station in Maharashtra's Bagalwadi village of the Madha Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday afternoon.
According to officials, around 1 p.m., the man barged into the polling station with a bottle of petrol, poured it on at least three EVMs there and set them afire, shocking the other voters and the on-duty election officials there.
He was reportedly shouting slogans like 'Jai Maratha', 'Ek Maratha, Lakh Maratha', etc, before rushing out, but was arrested by the police security deployed outside the polling booth.
Simultaneously, some election officials quickly brought a can of water and doused the burning equipment, but at least three EVMs were seen rendered useless, even as videos of the incident went viral on social media.
The election process was halted briefly as the booth officials managed to get replacements for the burnt EVMs, and resumed the voting, said an official, but further details were awaited.
The police arrested the man and he was taken away for further investigations, and the motive behind his act could not be ascertained.
Meanwhile, police security was further tightened outside the Bagalwadi polling station and the voting continued without further problems.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Highlights - Congress Comeback In Haryana, Hung Verdict In J&K: Poll Of Exit Polls Congress To Win Haryana, Hung House In J&K: Poll Of Exit Polls Kumari Selja As Haryana Chief Minister? Congress's Bhupinder Hooda Says... Rajasthan Cop Suspended Over Death Of Rape Accused In Police Custody Teen Girl Gang-Raped In Gujarat, Had Gone Out To Meet Friend: Cops Delhi Police Secure 1st Conviction Under New Criminal Laws in Theft Case Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.