Amid Maoist violence, Jharkhand sees over 27% polling till 11 am

Ranchi: An estimated 27.07 percent voters today exercised their franchise till 11 am in the second phase of polling in six Lok Sabha seats of Jharkhand where Maoists injured five persons, including four CRPF jawans and blew up railway lines.

Polling in six Lok Sabha constituencies was going on amid tight security under helicopter surveillance with serpentine queues being witnessed at several booths in Ranchi, Giridih, Jamshedpur, Singhbhum (ST), Khunti (ST) and Hazaribagh seats.

In Bokaro which falls under Giridh LS seat, a CRPF party came under Maoist attack when the rebels triggered two landmine blasts at Lalpania near rebel-affected Jhumra Hills, injuring three jawans—Pratap Singh, Surendra Kumar and PC Mandal and driver Ranjit kumar, CRPF (26th Battalion) Commandant Sanjay Kumar said.

In a separate attack on security forces at Tulbul village at Jhumra Hills in Bokaro district, the Maoists opened fire on a patrolling part of the para-military force, injuring a jawan. A brief encounter took place before the ultras retreated.

The rebels also blew up a stretch of railway track between Dania railway station in Bokaro and Jageshwar station of Bihar under South Eastern Railway disrupting train services, Bokaro Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Singh said.

A pressure cooker bomb was recovered near a polling booth in naxal-hit Saranda forest range of the state, an hour before polling began in Singhbhum (ST) constituency.

A report from Giridih said the Maoists exploded ten bombs at separate places in Giridh Lok Sabha constituency where polling is on.

Jharkhand, which has 14 Lok Sabha seats, had its first phase polling in four constituencies on 10 April and will have its third and final phase on 24 April in four more seats.

Among 106 candidates in the fray today, prominent ones were Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Karia Munda of BJP, Jayant Sinha, son of Jaswant Sinha, former Team India Manager Amitabh Chowdhury of JVM(P), former deputy chief minister, Suresh Mahato of Ajsu party and former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay of Congress.

PTI