The Hindu : Front Page : Violence marks elections in Bihar, Jharkhand

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Friday, Feb 04, 2005

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Violence marks elections in Bihar, Jharkhand

By J. Venkatesan

— Photo: Ranjeet Kumar

Voting for the Assembly elections under way at an outdoor polling booth at Mausmi Sarai in Bihar's Jehanabad district on Thursday.

NEW DELHI, FEB. 3. Thirteen persons were killed in incidents of sporadic violence in the first phase of Assembly elections in Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand today. While six persons, including two women, were killed in Bihar, six policemen were killed in a landmine blast in Jharkhand.

The Deputy Election Commissioner, A.N. Jha, told reporters here that polling was held for all the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, 64 of the 243 seats in Bihar and 24 of the 81 seats in Jharkhand. While Haryana recorded a turnout of 65 per cent, it was between 52 and 55 per cent in Bihar and around 45 per cent in Jharkhand.

Mine blast

In Jharkhand, five District Armed Police personnel, the station in-charge in Palamu district (under Chattarpur police station) and their civilian driver were killed when suspected Maoists triggered a landmine explosion early today.

"No major incident was reported in Haryana," Mr. Jha said. However, group clashes were reported from a few places. Polling was suspended in a booth in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand after a polling official died following a heart attack. Another polling officer died after a heart attack in Elanahbad constituency of Haryana.

Mr. Jha said the Commission would decide by tomorrow on repolling. Repolling would be held wherever the Electronic Voting Machines were damaged. He said EVMs were damaged in eight polling stations in Bihar and one in Haryana.

Six killed in Bihar

Our Patna Special Correspondent reports:

— Photo: Ranjeet Kumar

A woman exercises her franchise at an open polling booth in the same constituency.

Two Home Guards and a voter were killed in an attack by naxalites in Shankarpur village under the Banke Bazar police station of Imamganj constituency in Gaya district. An injured Home Guard was admitted to hospital. The naxalites took away three rifles.

In another naxalite attack on a booth in Jhagari under Ghosi police station of Jehanabad district, one person was killed and two others were injured.

Police opened fire at a booth in Narayana village under the Chenari police station of Rohtas district to stop the exchange of fire between two warring groups. Two women were killed and another was injured in the police firing.

One person was killed in an exchange of fire between two groups in Karhasi village under Dinara police station of Rohtas district. In the same district, three Janata Dal (United) supporters were injured in a clash with Bahujan Samaj Party workers.

Two Rashtriya Janata Dal supporters were injured in a bomb explosion allegedly triggered by Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) supporters in Aurangabad district.

A polling officer, Badri Narain Prasad Singh, was injured when anti-social elements fired at a booth in Rustampur under Nawada police station of Nawada district. The polling process was disturbed in about half a dozen booths by anti social elements. The voters boycotted the poll process in 10 booths in protest against development issues.

The Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that the vehicle in which its vice-president, S.K. Modi, was travelling was attacked by a group of people in Bhagalpur.

Police arrested about 100 people during the day on various counts and even seized arms from them.

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