16 supporters of a political party arrested for booth-capturing in Andhalewadi; repoll to be held on April 24.The Election Commission of India has ordered a repoll in Andhalewadi of Beed district, where the polling booth was allegedly captured by a dozen activists of a particular political party on April 17, the polling day.While the Beed police arrested 16 men who have been remanded in judicial custody for a week, Beed Superintendent of Police Naveen Chandra Reddy and Beed district Collector Nawal Kishore Ram refused to identify the political party as the matter is under investigation.The booth has 392 registered voters, and 303 votes were cast. The accused allegedly cast eight bogus votes after capturing the booth.Beed district, where former deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde of the BJP is pitted against NCP’s Suresh Dhas (a minister of state) is witnessing a tough fight. NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is at loggerheads with Munde since the 1990s, wants him defeated, and the NCP have left no stone unturned in a bid to emerge victorious in the contest.The Beed parliamentary constituency has six assembly segments and five belong to the NCP.District Collector Ram said, “Polling was quite peaceful in the rest of my district. But around 5.30 pm at Andhalewadi, these men captured the booth and cast eight votes. It is a serious case. I sent a report to the Election Commission of India, and they have ordered a repoll on April 24.”In the past, while booth-capturing has been widespread in Bihar and UP, it is comparatively unheard of in Maharashtra. Despite this, a micro observer had been appointed for Andhalewadi.Beed Superintendent of Police Reddy said that most of the accused are students of colleges in Aurangabad who live in Andhalewadi and had returned home for the elections.“We have arrested Vishwajeet Andhale, Sambhaji Wanwe, Ashok Andhale and Bhausaheb Andhale besides 12 others for the incident,” said Reddy, adding that the arrested include polling agents of the political party.An EC order signed by Deputy Chief Electoral Officer A N Valvi said that the district administration must provide ample publicity for the repoll, which has been scheduled for April 24.