The man who was killed when the police opened fire near a polling booth in Sisai constituency during the second phase of the Assembly elections in Jharkhand died of wounds from a sharp object and not a bullet, Hindustan Times reported on Monday, citing police. The Election Commission will hold re-polling in Sisai constituency on Monday from 7 am to 3 pm.
“Zilani [Ansari] did not die of bullet injuries,” said Additional Director General of Police (Operation) ML Meena. “We have received the post-mortem report, which reveals that the cause of death was injuries inflicted by a sharp weapon...no bullet was found in his body.”
The postmortem was done by a board of doctors in presence of a magistrate. “The entire process was video-graphed,” said Meena.
However, on Saturday, the police had said that Ansari was killed and two others were injured in Gumla district after they tried to snatch their arms and pelted stones at security personnel. They claimed Rapid Action Force personnel “had to fire at them in self defence resulting in escalation of the problem”.
The clashes erupted in the booth when the police allegedly instructed people to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to The Times of India. “While we were in queue, some Railway Police Force personnel instructed us to vote for kamal [lotus],” Mohammad Asad Ansari told the newspaper. “When one elector objected to this, a policeman threatened to shoot him. When he dared them to go ahead, the cop aimed his gun at him and shot him in the leg.”
Thirteen constituencies had voted in the first phase on November 30, with a 64.66% voter turnout. Three phases are yet to vote – 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.
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