Team News Riveting
Raipur, November 17
A jawan of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast triggered by the Maoists to target a polling party in Chhattisgarh’s Gariyaband district on Friday.
The incident took place near Bade Gobra in Gariyaband district on Thursday evening. Sources said the Maoists attacked the polling party returning to the district headquarters after conducting the elections in Gobra under Bindranawagarh Assembly constituency. Unconfirmed reports said that the members of the polling party and a jawan sustained minor injuries in the incident.
A jawan of the ITBP was killed in the attack while another was injured. Sources said the victim was identified as Head Constable Joginder Singh. The polling party was stranded in the area after the incident and were safely evacuated after reinforcements reached. The party has safely reached Mainpur police station.
The otherwise peaceful elections in the second and final phase of polling was stained with the incident. The 70 assembly constituencies went to the polls today. In the first phase of election held on November 7 covering all the Maoists infested seats, no untoward incident was reported.
In the second phase of elections, about 68 per cent voters’ turnout has been reported till 5 pm. The election officials said the voters who had reached the booths before 5 pm had been retained to cast their votes. It would increase the polling per centage. However, the final figure would be known only after all the polling parties submit their final report.
