The Chitwan district security council has declared vote counting venue at Bharatpur Metropolitan City and its vicinity as prohibited zone.

CDO Narayan Prasad Bhattarai on Sunday said the decision was taken in view of the security challenges after the ballot papers were torn during a vote count on May 28 and the subsequent protests staged by the supporters of CPN-UML.

The UML has claimed that the ballot papers of Bharatpur-19 were torn by the cadres of CPN (Maoist Centre).

The Election Commission has decided to conduct re-election in Bharatpur-19 after the dispute. (PR)