Crime Chief Seelall Persaud yesterday confirmed that a man is in police custody after he was found holding a ballot box at the Camptown Community Centre on Monday, Elections Day.
Persaud noted that police are investigating how he came in possession of the box as “he wasn’t supposed to handle it”. He said that he did not have all the details but knew that the matter is being investigated.
Simone Mangal, a board member of the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) had told Stabroek News that someone went into the polling station after the close of poll and later an APNU polling agent saw an exchange between a GECOM official and the person who was allowed unfettered access to the compound. She said that the APNU raised an alarm and police arrested the man.
According to Mangal, people were told that the man was there to “assist with the counting” of the votes at the polling station.
Persons who witnessed the incident said that the man emerged from a car that had been parked outside the location. He then went to the fence and (someone) came and opened the gate to allow him access into the compound. It was the APNU polling agent who witnessed the exchange of money between the man and the GECOM employee.
It is unclear if the GECOM employee is also in police custody.
Meanwhile, Persaud was unable to confirm that a suspect in a similar incident in Tucville was still in police custody.
Shortly before the Campbellville incident reports are that a man was sitting in front of the Turning Point Snackette for most of the afternoon. When the polling station closed at 6 pm, he produced a bogus document with the aim of removing the ballot box.
The document immediately raised read flags. This newspaper was told by an observer that “vigilant citizens apprehended the man and called the police”.
