2 CRPF jawans, one polling officer die as car falls in gorge

Three polling personnel were killed and four others injured when the car they were travelling in fell into a gorge in Darjeeling.

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. The incident occurred near Pool Bazar area of Relling when the victims were returning from the poll duty at booth in Relling in Darjeeling on Sunday evening. The EVM machine which was also there inside the car was later recovered by the police and election officials.

Police said among the deceased there was a second polling officer Bishnu Rawat and CRPF jawan NC Pradhan who were travelling in the ill fated car along with the EVM machine. Rawat was an employee of a bank at Mirik in Darjeeling. When the car was about to take a sharp turn near Pool Bazar area, the vehicle lost its control and fell into a gorge.

Local people said that the car fell into a river. The residents of the nearby village rushed to the spot and took part in the rescue operations before the police reached there. The local people took the seven injured persons to the hospital where the three persons were declared dead, among which the identity of one person is yet to be divulged by the police. 

Five persons including some polling personnel were undergoing treatment at the hospital.