One person was killed and two were injured in police firing at Baghni village of Sisai constituency on Saturday when voting for the second phase of the Assembly elections in Jharkhand was underway, PTI reported.
Police said a group of men tried to snatch their arms and pelted stones at security personnel.
Jharkhand Director General of Police Kamal Nayan Choubey said Rapid Protection Force personnel resisted when a group of people tried to capture booths, according to The Indian Express. “This led to a clash and the villagers started pelting stones at the police,” he added. “Initially, the RPF personnel fired in the air to disperse the mob, but later had to fire at them in self defence resulting in escalation of the problem.”
State Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey said one person died and two received bullet injuries. He said the incident was being probed and polling in the booth has been stopped.
The injured people have been shifted to a hospital in Ranchi.
The voting began amid tight security at 7 am in 20 constituencies spread across seven districts. It went on till 3 pm in all seats except two – Jamshedpur (East) and Jamshedpur (West), which got two more hours. An estimated 62.40% voter turnout was recorded after voting ended, according to the Election Commission.
Thirteen constituencies had already voted in the first phase on November 30, with a 64.66% voter turnout. Three phases will remain to be held after Saturday – 17 seats on December 12, another 15 on December 16, and the remaining 16 seats on December 20. The results will be declared on December 23.
Armed police were deployed in most constituencies as they are vulnerable to Maoist activity, Choubey said. Out of the 6,066 polling stations where voting will take place on Saturday, 949 have been declared critical and 762 sensitive, while 101 were relocated due to security reasons.
A total of 48,25,038 voters are eligible to vote in the second phase, and 260 candidates are in the fray.
The Assembly constituencies that voted on Saturday are: Baharagora, Ghatsila, Potka, Jugsalai, Jamshedpur (East), Jamshedpur (West), Seraikela, Chaibasa, Majhgaon, Jagannathpur, Manoharpur, Chakradharpur, Kharsawan, Tamar, Torpa, Khunti, Mandar, Sisai, Simdega and Kolebira.
Saryu Roy, who recently quit the state Cabinet, is contesting as an independent candidate against Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Chief Minister Raghubar Das in Jamshedpur (East) seat.
The BJP has candidates in all 20 constituencies. In the Opposition alliance, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has fielded candidates in 14 seats and the Congress in six seats, with no seat for the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the second phase constituencies.
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