Blast,abduct,kill,burn

Ranchi: The CPIMaoist cadres detonated a landmine targeting a bus ferrying Border Security Force BSF personnel,killing five of them and two civilians at Ladup village in Latehar under Chatra Lok Sabha constituency shortly before polling for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections began in Jharkhand on Thursday morning. As many as 12 BSF jawans,who were injured in the incident,were airlifted to the Apollo Hospital near Ranchi. They are out of danger, said superintendent,Apollo,P D Singh.

The incident took place around 6.30 am,half an hour before the polling was scheduled to begin at a booth situated 2 km from Ladup, said constable Pratap Singh,undergoing treatment at Apollo. We were on foot as we had to escort the poll staff up to the booth. Having done that,we boarded the bus which drove over a hidden landmine in a short while, he added.

According to standing instructions to the police engaged in anti-Naxal operations,the security forces are not supposed to return to the camp via the route taken earlier. This mistake on their part proved fatal, said IG S N Pradhan.

The Naxals also struck at several places in the six constituencies of Koderma,Lohardaga,Khunti,Chatra,Palamau and Hazaribagh,where voting took place between 7 am and 3 pm,in their bid to enforce poll boycott and bandh.

At Manika in Palamau,the rebels abducted four polling staff and later released them after warning them not to attend to their duty. In Lesliegunj,they attacked 10 booths. There was,however,no casualty, said the police. In Khunti,they barged into the Helong booth,beat up its poll staff and burnt the EVMs. When the security forces challenged them,they escaped, said Khunti SP Prabhat Kumar. Manoj Prasad

Chhattisgarh

Five poll officers,2 CRPF men killed

Raipur: Violence in Naxalite-prone areas in Chhattisgarh left seven peoplefive polling officers and two CRPF personneldead as 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state went to the polls in the first phase on Thursday.

Maoist rebels blew up a jeep in a village near Kusmi,about 100 km from the district headquarters of Rajnandgaon,killing zonal officer A K Acharya and four reserve presiding officers K R Verma,Ram Charan Verma,U C Gupta and Abdul Salam and injuring two others. The officials were travelling in a jeep without police escort when it came under a landmine attack.

Two other injured persons,who were also in

the jeep,were admitted to a local hospital and later shifted to a hospital in Dallirajhara.

In Bastar ST constituency,two CRPF personnel were killed and five others injured when the rebels opened indiscriminate fire near Maruki polling station in a bid to prevent the officers and securitymen from reaching the booth. An encounter ensued for a few hours in which two the two CRPF personnel were killed.

Reports received from Bastar divisional headquarters of Jagdalpur said the encounter took place at 20 different places in Bastar,Dantewada,Bijapur,Narayanpur districts throughout the day,leading to disruption of polling at some places.

Naxals looted two Electronic Voting machines EVMs and set a bus on fire after polling ended,the police said. They struck when polling officers boarded a bus to leave from Kusumkusa and Saleh Kusumkasa polling centres in the district. They made the polling party get off the bus and set it on fire and fled with two EVMs,police said. A case has been registered in this connection.

State Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar said all arrangements were in place to ensure smooth conduct of polls but such incidents took place as Naxalites wait for an opportunity to disturb the polls. The state got less number of paramilitary forces than required for the smooth conduct of polls in Naxalite areas, he added. Joseph John

Bihar

2 cops killed,2 missing after attack

GAYA: The CPI Maoist rebels attacked a polling station at Singhpur village in Bihar8217;s Gaya district on Thursday,killing a homeguard and a district armed police personnel. Two other jawans were reported missing after the attack.

The Maoists also took away four rifles from the security personnel posted at the village,about

70 km from here,said DIG Magadh range Anupama Nilekar. Besides looting an EVM from the booth,the ultras also looted 40 rounds of ammunition from the security personnel. Over a dozen EVMs were destroyed at Chhapra and Maharajganj too. Police and Naxals were also engaged in exchange of fire at Narganjo,Jamui,Barachatti,and Koriari in Rohtas. ENS

Orissa

3 polling booths set on fire in Malkangiri

Malkangiri: Maoists set afire at least three polling booths,EVMsand other poll material in Orissas Malkangiri district on Thursday,disrupting voting in the area. The ultras,who have given a call for poll boycott,struck at Andrahal in Chitrakonda area setting ablaze a vehicle on election duty and two EVMs after tying the hands of poll officials,Malkangiri district collector Nitin Bhanudas Jawle said. As a result,polling could not be conducted in the booth,he said. Two polling booths were set ablaze by the Maoists in Salimarikonda and MV-73 in Kalimela police station area,Superintendent of Police Satyabrata Bhoi said,adding the EVMs in the booths were also set afire by the ultras. The Maoists also blocked roads in Mathili by felling trees and placing boulders preventing movement of polling officials and voters. Due to Maoist threat,not a single vote was cast in Badigata polling station in Kalimela in the first two hours of voting.