Police have arrested an election officer who had reached at the office of the chief election officer in an inebriated condition to collect his appointment letter, expenses and election materials at Syangja on Sunday.

According to the police, Hom Bahadur Gurung, a staffer at Phedikhola Rural Municipality and election officer of Bodi Bhanjyang (B)-based Janata Secondary School polling centre for the second phase of elections for House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly was arrested after he barged-in at the office of chief election officer in a drunken state.

Chief Election Officer and Chief District Officer present in the room had ordered the police to arrest Gurung for his unprofessional behaviour.

Syangja Constituency-2 election officer Shree Krishna Shrestha said that despite Gurung’s fiasco, the appointment letter has been handed over to the latter as removing him from the duty would be seen as a politically-biased move.

Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Ishwari Prasad Poudel who is in the district to monitor the election process has asked CDO Mahesh Acharya to replace Gurung with another official. But it is learnt that CDO Acahrya is adamant on retaining Gurung as the election officer of the polling station.