A primary school teacher in Puranpur area in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit has been caught submitting a fake Covid-19 positive medical certificate for getting exemption from polling duty in the upcoming municipal elections, an official said on Tuesday, as reported by the news agency PTI. The official said that orders have been given to file an FIR against Ritu Tomar posted in Pachpeda village primary school of Puranpur block.
According to PTI, Tomar was assigned the duty of the polling officer II in the polling party number three at the pink booth in the municipal elections slated for May 11.
"The teacher had given an application seeking exemption from election duty with a document certifying her as Covid positive," CDO Pilibhit, Dharmendra Pratap Singh said, as quoted by PTI. When the officers checked the certificate, they found that she had edited the document of another person for seeking exemption from polling duty, he said.
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The CDO said he ordered Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Amit Kumar Singh on Tuesday to register an FIR against the teacher in this connection. Bypolls are underway in the assembly constituencies of Swar and Chhanbey in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.
The contest in Suar, previously held by Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of prominent SP politician Azam Khan will be the high point. Bypolls in the Suar assembly seat were necessitated after Abdullah Azam Khan was given a two-year prison sentence by a Moradabad court in a case that dates back fifteen years.
Abdullah Azam Khan, and his father, were convicted by a local court in Uttra Pradesh for allegedly using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty in a matter pertaining to a dharna on a state highway in January 2008. The counting of votes for the bypolls will also take place along with Karnataka on May 13.