A block development officer in South Dinajpur district has filed a police complaint, mentioning that a CCTV camera and its memory card went missing from a counting centre in Balurghat.

Balurghta BDO Anuj Sikdar filed the complaint on July 12 when the counting of the votes cast for the panchayat polls entred the second day.

“The BDO said the CCTV camera installed in a room of Balurghat College, which was a counting centre in the block, was missing with its memory card. The BDO has sought an investigation and the recovery of the camera and the card, saying important videos were stored in it,” said a source in the administration.

The state BJP president, Sukanta Majumdar, alleged on Sunday that the camera had been removed to destroy the evidence of the malpractices during the counting.

Majumdar, who is also the Balurghat MP, said in a social media post that the BJP had alleged malpractices during the counting at the counting centre. “It seems registering the complaint was a ruse to create an impression that the BDO doesn’t have the camera’s footage if the court or any other competent authority asks for it. There were manipulations during the counting and those were recorded in CCTVs," said the MP.

Majumdar added: “The block administration is in cahoots with the Trinamul Congress and wants to obliterate the proof.”

District CPM leaders, too, criticised the administration. “If any CCTV camera has gone missing or is stolen, it is the responsibility of the administration to trace it. We suspect the camera and its footage were removed to conceal the malpractices during the counting,” CPM leader Amit Sarkar said.

Trinamul denied the charges.

Subhash Chaki, a district vice-president of the party in South Dinajpur, said: “The Opposition parties are raising baseless charges after facing the defeat in the elections. None from our party was involved in any malpractice at counting centres.”