Heat claims polling official

MALDA, April 29: A polling official died and several others fell ill in the continuing heat wave in Malda today. The victim has been identified as Noor Mohammad (55). Two others - Mr Prakash Dasgupta and Mr Pankaj Roy - fell unconscious and are recieving treatment in the district hospital. According to the additional district magistrate (development), Malda, Mrs Indrani Saha, Noor Mohammad - a cultivation assistant with the sericulture departmen - died sitting in a vehicle just before moving out of the Malda Polytechnic. “He was waiting for the other members of the team. He had been deployed in the Manikchak Assembly segment. Other polling personnel, including photographers, fell ill at the dispatch centre in Chanchal,” the ADM said. The body has been sent for postmortem. The Election Commission will compensate for the death of the polling personnel on duty, officials informed. n SNS