The Punjab State Election Commission suspended a presiding officer for alleged dereliction of election duty on Sunday, officials said.
Sukhwinder Singh, Superintendent of ITI, who was appointed as the presiding officer for gram panchayat elections in Fatehgarh Sahib, faced the action as he did not report for his duty and also allegedly instigated other polling staff to do the same, they said.
Mr Singh was suspended after Fatehgarh Sahib Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer reported the matter to the Election Commission, ordering immediate suspension of Mr Singh in the matter.
As per the State Election Commission's Secretary order, the officer may not be re-instated in service before getting the recommendations of the Commission. The letter was sent to Secretary, Department of Technical Education and Industrial Department.
Polling to elect sarpanches and panches for 13,276 villages in Punjab was held on Sunday.