Three persons have been arrested for allegedly stealing 47 ballot papers during the counting of votes of Kandarada gram panchayat in Pithapuram mandal of East Godavari district.

On the midnight of February 9, a group reportedly gained entry into the counting centre at ZP High School in Kandarada village and allegedly stole 47 ballot papers from the ballot boxes, leading to suspension of the election.

On Wednesday, East Godavari Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy issued orders to conduct repolling on February 13 based on the directions from the State Election Commission.

In an official release issued on Wednesday night by East Godavari Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi, police arrested three persons — Vakapalli Suribabu, Sytana Varaprasad and Vasamsetty Sudhakar belonging to the same gram panchayat — in the case.

“The trio has been arrested and produced before a local court on Wednesday. Cases have been registered under IPC Section 120B, 188, 452, 353, 506, and 171-C. The investigation is on to nab some more locals who were involved in the case,” said Mr. Asmi.