Three sealed and uncounted ballot boxes were recovered from a high school at Gajol in West Bengal’s Malda district on Tuesday morning. Sources said the boxes were kept in a classroom, which was converted into a counting centre for the recently concluded panchayat elections in the state.

Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya and CPI(M) leader Tanmoy Bhattacharya said this proves that the panchayat polls was a farce.  “I demand strict action against the returning officer concerned as results have already been declared without counting the votes in those three boxes,” Pradip said.