Chandigarh, Jan 31 (IANS): The Haryana Police and paramilitary forces used canes to disperse protesters during a demonstration in Jind town during the counting of votes for the Jind Assembly seat by-election on Thursday.

Protesters belonging to the newly launched Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) held the protests while alleging that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) had been tampered with.

As per reports, the serial numbers of two EVMs did not match with the list and this was objected to by one of the contesting candidates inside the counting centre.

As the news reached the activists of various parties, the protest started in Jind town, around 190 km from here, following which the police was forced to take action to disperse them.

Police officials said the protests took place around 300 metres from the counting centre and did not affect the counting process.

The counting process was stopped for some time after the complaint regarding the EVMs but it was resumed later.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading by over 9,500 votes after seven rounds of counting.