Bastar defies Naxal call, 70% turnout in phase-I assembly elections

RAIPUR: Around 70% voting was recorded across 18 constituencies of Bastar and Rajnandgaon till 3 PM in the first phase of Assembly election in Chhattisgarh, where violence by Naxals who have called for a poll boycott left a CRPF jawan dead.

Voting, however, failed to start in two ‘hyper-sensitive’ polling booths - Durgapur and Sitram -- in Kanker district as officials could not reach there due to Naxal resistance. Naxals ambushed a team of election personnel when they were returning after conclusion of polling in Katekalyan area of Dantewada district in south Chhattisgarh.

Over ten bombs, including a 10 kg pipe bomb, were recovered and a policeman was injured in a bomb attack by Naxals.