Twitter
Advertisement

Naxal violence rocks 1st phase of Lok Sabha polls, 18 killed

Naxal violence rocked certain parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections leaving 18 dead.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Heavily-armed Maoists struck in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa on Thursday to disrupt the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, killing 18 people, including five election officials and 11 security men, and looted several electronic voting machines.

Naxalites, who targeted nearly a dozen places in Chhattisgarh, blew up a jeep carrying poll officials with an IED in Rajnandgaon district, about 75 kms from Raipur, killing five of them on the spot and injuring two others, IGP (Durg range) Mukesh Gupta said.

Zonal officer AK Acharya was among the dead.

The Maoist attacked polling booths, looting nine EVMs and exchanged fire with security forces in Dandewada and Narainpur areas in the state, 350 kms and 250 kms respectively from Chhattisgarh's capital, they said, adding that two CRPF jawan died of bullet wounds and five others were injured in Maruki in Dandewada. Casualty among the ultras was not known.

The naxals struck at many place including Mangnar, Handwara, Bhatpal, Kanepal, Kokanar and Jangampal in Dantewada district and in Nernar, Sonapal and Karmari in Narainpur region, Additional DGP Girdhari Nayak said.

A day after attacking CRPF contingents, the naxalites targeted a bus carrying BSF personnel in Jharkhand's Latehar area, about 125 from Ranchi, by triggering a landmine blast at around 7.30 AM leading to the death of seven personnel from the border force besides that of the civilian driver and helper. Several others were injured.

Maoists also set on fire at least three polling booths, electronic voting machines and other materials in Orissa's Malkangiri district today, disrupting voting.

In Bihar, a homeguard and a police official on election duty were shot dead and another injured by naxals in Singhpur village in Gaya district, police said. Two other police personnel were reported missing.

Deputy Commissioner Sarvendu Tathagat in Latehar, about 125 kms from Ranchi, said the BSF personnel were returning from Ladhup to Arah after having carried of patrolling duty in naxal strongholds when they were attacked. A helicopter has flown to the spot for rescue operations, he said.

Maoists set afire at least three polling booths, destroying electronic voting machines and other poll material in Orissa's Malkangiri district. Polling was disrupted in the area.

A staggering 1.85 lakh polling stations were set up by the Election Commission to enable about 14.31 crore voters to exercise their franchise.

Elections to 154 Assembly segments in Andhra Pradesh and 70 in Orissa were also held today.

While all 20 seats in Kerala, 11 in Chhattisgarh and two each in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya went to polls in a single phase today, polling was held in 13 out of 40 seats in Bihar, 16 out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra 13 (48), Andhra Pradesh 22 (42), Jharkhand 6 (14), Orissa 10 (21), Assam 3 (14), Manipur 1 (2) and Jammu and Kashmir 1 (6).

The lone seats in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Mizoram and Nagaland were also covered in the first phase.

Prominent among those who contested today were Union ministers Praful Patel, Renuka Chowdhury, D Purandeswari, Santosh Mohan Dev, Meira Kumar, Rameshwar Oraon and E Ahamed and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy, former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor and south Indian actress Vijaya Shanti.

The second phase of polling will be held on April 23, and voting in the remaining phases will take place on April 30, May seven and May 13.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement