At Bandwan in Purulia district, a vehicle hired for poll duty was set to fire on Friday night, hours before the first phase of assembly elections get started, official sources said.
The vehicle was said to be on its way back after dropping election officials at a polling station when it was set on fire at Tulsidi village in the once-Maoist-affected “Jangalmahal” belt of the state, they said.
The eyewitnesses said that the vehicle was stopped by a few persons who came out of the forests all of a sudden and allegedly threw a petrol-soaked material on it, before leaving.
The sources said no one was injured in the incident. The vehicle was reduced to ashes by the time fire force officials could extinguish the blaze, they added.
A police investigation has initiated.
All the nine seats in Purulia will go for polls on Saturday in the first stage.
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