Darbhanga, May 24: District magistrate R. Lakshamanan and senior superintendent of police Vikas Vaibhav conducted a meeting with the people’s representatives of the area at Kusheshwar Asthan today.

The meeting was aimed to ensure a peaceful poll counting, which is likely to begin on May 26 at Kusheshwar Asthan block of Darbhanga.

Sitting BJP MLA Shashi Bhushan Hazari and former Congress MLA Ashok Ram also participated in the meeting. Apart from the two local leaders, more than 100 people, representing different panchayats, attended the meet.

Sources said the administration took the initiative to relieve the residents of the tension prevailing in the area after a police firing in which one person was killed and one injured. In the meeting, the administration assured the gathering of support to aggrieved families.

The DM said: “The victims fall under the below poverty line (BPL) and they would be given the facilities under BPL as per government norms.”

On the directives of the district administration, preliminary inquiry into the glitches during the counting of votes on May 21 was conducted.

Two officials — district account officer Shambhu Prasad Arya and sub divisional officer Jagdish Prasad — came up with their report in which they found some mistakes committed at the table-level where ballot papers were being sorted out and separated by officials.

Lakshamanan said he had asked to register a case against 54 persons under Kusheshwar Asthan police station. FIR was lodged against those who were involved in panchayat poll counting apart from two mukhiya candidates Devnarayan Paswan and Kameshwar Ram of Aurahi panchayat. Lakshamanan added all officials required in the counting process at Kusheshwar Asthan were changed.