Calcutta, May 2: All 117 observers for the three districts going to polls tomorrow were out on the roads tonight accompanied by the paramilitary to quell fears of voter intimidation.

“The EC has asked all observers to fan out after dinner and move around in their constituencies with the central forces. We want them to be seen patrolling at night so that they can create a positive impact on people,” deputy election commissioner Anand Kumar had said in the evening.

Kumar, who was in Mur-shidabad yesterday, went on night patrol around Lalbag, 12 km from Behrampore town, last night.

He toured Kandi and Behrampore in Murshidabad, Nanoor, Suri, Sainthia and Pak- uri in Birbhum and Raina, Asansol and Durgapur in Burdwan today.

At Nanoor, he ordered the arrest of a duo accused of intimidating voters. “You are responsible for the law and order here. Agar kal kuchh hua to aapki responsibility (if something goes wrong tomorrow, you’d be responsible),” he told the officer-in-charge of the local police station and the Bolpur subdivisional police officer.

By evening, 10 people with criminal records had been arrested in Nanoor.

In Murshidabad, district magistrate N. Manjunatha Prasad ordered the arrest of four Congress supporters on charges of voter intimidation in Behrampore town.

Two Congress trade union activists were found loitering in the centre from where polling personnel were being despatched. Jayanta Chowdhury, the Murshidabad president of the West Bengal Employees’ Federation, managed to escape but a member, Suku Saha, was arrested.

The police said they are on the lookout for Jayanta.

In Burdwan, buses and trucks were searched after superintendent of police Peeyush Pandey received a tip-off that a large consignment of arms and ammunition was being smuggled from Jharkhand.

“Between 11 am and 3 pm, the police ran checks on vehi-cles at all intersections near the (district’s) borders with Jharkhand, Purulia, Birbhum and Bankura. Nothing was found,” Pandey said.

The commanding officers of the central forces have been asked to lead patrols in their sectors. “We’ve asked the company commanders to main- tain records of the places they are going to. They must move within their areas as well as in the villages and be seen by the people to build confidence among them,” the deputy election commissioner said.

Election officers who have been assigned sectors have been asked to keep moving from booth to booth. The police have been told to seal borders with the Maoist-dominated districts and increase patrolling along Jharkhand and in places like Sahebgunj, Pakur and Jamtara.

Mayor vote probe

The commission today ordered a probe into the circums- tances in which mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya was allowed to vote.

Despite having an electoral I-card, the mayor voted on the basis of his PAN card and driving licence. Carrying the electoral ID is mandatory for every voter who has been issued one.

Some of the personnel at the Dhakuria booth had raised objections, but the presiding officer gave Bhattacharya the go-ahead. Chief electoral officer Debashis Sen said a probe will be conducted into the officer’s green signal to the mayor.