India, April 26 -- Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday accused central forces of trying to "capture" electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the districts that went to polls in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly election on April 23

"I heard of two incidents in which power to two strong rooms where EVMs are kept was cut off. Central forces escorted criminals to those places to capture EVMs. The faces of these people were covered. I am surprised that the ECI [Election Commission of India] is silent," said Banerjee at a rally in her Bhabanipur constituency.

Bhabanipur is among the 142 of 294 seats that would go to polls in the second and last phase of polling across seven south Bengal districts, including Kolkata, on April 29. ...