Violence fears unfounded, N-E polls incident-free

Contrary to speculations that violence would mar elections, voters in Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya preferred to exercise their franchise....

Contrary to speculations that violence would mar elections, voters in Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya preferred to exercise their franchise.

The otherwise peaceful polling saw two NSCN (IM) cadres being killed in Nagaland. There were reports of snatching and damaging Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) from Nagaland, while two candidates were assaulted and attempts to

capture booths were foiled by security forces in Tripura. The presence of security forces also played a major role in vulnerable areas as they entrenched themselves ahead of the militants.

Nagaland suspends top cop

Kohima: The commandant of the 8th Nagaland Armed Police (NAP) Battalion was on Wednesday suspended in connection with the violence at the Deputy Commissioner’s office at Zunheboto on Monday, officials said. About 100 men of the 8th NAP Battalion stationed on the outskirts of the town had gheraoed the DC’s office on suspicion that their postal ballots were being tampered with. They had detained 20 staff members for about eight hours over the inadequate number of postal ballots prepared by the District Election Office. NAP personnel ransacked the office and damaged vehicles. Communication lines between the DC’s office, also the District Election Officer and the Chief Electoral Officer, were disrupted. —PTI

Security forces swooped on a house in the heart of Kohima, where some NSCN(IM) cadres were reportedly staying. When asked to surrender, the cadres opened fire and security forces retaliated. An NSCN(IM) cadre was killed.

In another incident in Mokokchung district, an NSCN(IM) activist was killed in a group clash.

Suspected militants fired in the air to scare voters in Mokokchung district, Chief Minister S.C. Jamir hails from here, and destroyed EVMs at a polling station in Impur constituency. In Tripura, where the voter turnout is likely to go beyond 75 per cent, the CPI(M) and Congress-INPT alliance traded charges that their supporters were beaten up and prevented from voting in several constituencies.

N.C. Debbarma, the CPI(M) candidate in Charilam constituency and Congress candidate Kashiram Reang in Matabari were allegedly assaulted by workers of the opposite parties.

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A poll official was arrested when police found him inside the CPI(M) office at Ramnagar as the polling began in the morning.

Voting in Meghalaya remained incident free, with official reports putting the voter turnout between 65 to 70 per cent. The final figures are yet to be announced, as reports from the interior areas would take some time to reach the respective capitals.