Rajkot: Five persons, including a former Congress corporator and Ward No. 15 candidate, were booked by Thorala police for allegedly violating election norms after being found with campaign materials within 100 metres of a polling station.The complaint was lodged by Mayur Bhaliya, a zonal officer deputed in the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) area. The accused were identified as Makbul Daudani (41), the Congress candidate for Ward No. 15, along with Arif Sandhi (44), Wasim Khan Luwani (39), Hussein Pinjara (65), and Irfan Khan Baloch (31).Police said the accused were booked under Sections 223 and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 135(1) of the Gujarat Police Act.According to the complaint, Bhaliya was on patrol near RMC School No. 66, a designated polling station in Ward No. 15, when he spotted the group in possession of election-related materials within the restricted 100m zone, which is prohibited under election guidelines.Bhaliya also seized seized items including a printer, a photocopy machine, cardboard sheets bearing names of Congress candidates for use on EVM machines, and pamphlets kept in a cloth bag.Assistant commissioner of police (crime branch) Bharat Basiya and special operations group police inspector S M Jadeja were among the officials present during the action. The five accused were detained and taken to Thorala police station, where a case was registered against them. Police said notices were issued to all the accused, following which they were released.
