Just a day before the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, two polling personnel and a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan were injured on Monday in an IED blast triggered by Naxalites in the Kanker district. The injured BSF constable has been identified as Prakash Chand, who sustained injuries to his legs and was rushed to Chhotepethiya for treatment, India Today reported.
The incident occurred at around 4 pm when four polling parties were going to their respective polling stations under Chhotebethiya police station limits, a police official told news agency PTI.
The official said that a joint team of BSF and district police had set out from Marbeda camp escorting the polling teams to Rengaghati Rengagondi polling station. Near Rengagondi, a pressure IED exploded, leaving two polling personnel and BSF constable Chandraparakash Seval injured, he added.
The injured were shifted to Chhotebethiya hospital for treatment where their condition was said to be out of danger, the police official said, adding that the rest of the polling teams safely reached the Rengagondi polling booth which falls under the Antagarh assembly constituency. Antagarh is among the 20 constituencies that will go to polls in the first phase of two-phase elections on Tuesday.
Earlier today, it was reported that one constable of ITBP was injured while neutralising an IED bomb planted by Naxals in Murhapadar village of the Narayanpur district. Later, Narayanpur Additional SP Hemsagar Sidar said that the police got information that Naxalites had planned IED in Murhapadar. “ITBP team reached the spot and we found one IED bomb and during its defusing, one ITBP jawan suffered minor injuries.”
First phase of Chhattisgarh elections on Tuesday
Twenty seats, including several in the Naxal-affected Bastar division, are up for polling in the first phase on Tuesday. Voting will be held between 7 am and 3 pm in 10 seats, namely Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta. Votes will be cast between 8 am and 5 pm in Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Pandariya and Kawardha Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot.
In the first phase, the fate of 223 candidates, including 25 women, will be decided by an estimated 40,78,681 voters, comprising 19,93,937 male, 20,84,675 female, and 69 third-gender persons. As many as 5304 polling booths have been set up for the first phase.
(With inputs from PTI)
