PANVEL, Aug. 29 -- Election commission officials on Thursday found 3,400 confidential voter enumeration forms pertaining to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls at a photocopy centre in Kharghar, triggering a confrontation between local BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) workers, a first information report against a Panvel resident allegedly linked to the BJP Yuva Morcha who was found photocopying the forms, and the suspension of five Booth Level Officers (BLOs) linked to a bulk of the forms. "These are extremely confidential and important election documents. A shocking incident has come to light in Kharghar where such forms were illegally kept in possession and photocopied in direct violation of law," Raigad collector Kishan Jawale said on Friday, while briefing reporters about the incident. The issue came to light on Thursday evening after Shiv Sena (UBT) Raigad district coordinator chief Prasad Bhoir lodged a complaint with the Electoral Registration Office regarding the unauthorised photocopying of enumeration forms at a photocopy centre in sector 19 in Kharghar. Assistant electoral registration officers subsequently visited the shop, where they found Suraj Patil, a resident of Murbhi village, photocopying enumeration forms of voters in the Panvel assembly constituency, said Jawale. In all, election commission officials found 3,400 forms relating to 11 polling stations across Panvel, which were sealed and deposited with the police. The Kharghar police later booked Patil under section 128 of the Representation of the People Act and section 314 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, based on the assistant collector's complaint. The five BLOs from whose custody the bulk of the forms had gone missing were issued show-cause notices and ordered to be suspended, Jawale said. The discovery of the enumeration forms triggered a confrontation at the photocopy centre on Thursday between Shiv Sena (UBT) workers and BJP Yuva Morcha functionaries. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Balesh Bhojne claimed that Patil, who was found photocopying the forms, was a BJP Yuva Morcha functionary. He also alleged that BJP workers abused, intimidated, pushed them and threatened them with assault. "The police seized the forms and took Patil to the police station, but he subsequently escaped from their custody," Bhojne alleged. Reacting to the controversy, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) alleged the incident was proof of the SIR exercise being undertaken to benefit the BJP. "We have repeatedly pointed out how the BJP is trying to lay the foundation for its next electoral victory through SIR, and today's incident has, in a way, confirmed those concerns," NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said in a post on X. BJP leader and Panvel mayor Nitin Patil said, "There is not the slightest connection of BJP workers with this matter."...