This story is from April 12, 2019

Bombs found at Aurangabad booth

Bombs found at Aurangabad booth
A polling booth in Maoist-affected Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency was shifted from the premises of a government school to a nearby place following the recovery of two live bombs
PATNA: A polling booth in Maoist-affected Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency was shifted from the premises of a government school to a nearby place following the recovery of two live bombs, barely five hours before the polling on Thursday.
The electorate of Anarban Salaiya village under Dumaria block in Gaya district, which falls under Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency, had to cast their vote at a temporary polling booth under a banyan tree.
Salaiya is about 35km south of Aurangabad district headquarters and located on the borders of Gaya and Aurangabad districts.
The polling personnel were so scared of the explosives that they sought the intervention of the senior officials of Aurangabad district, who ordered shifting of the polling booth (number 9) from the local government primary school to a nearby place. Till 2pm, only 70 voters had turned up at the polling station to exercise their franchise.
Presiding officer Ajay Kumar said, “Around 2am on Thursday, the personnel of 147th battalion of the CRPF detected two bombs on the campus. The bombs were planted under the earth to target the security and the polling personnel. The voter turnout is very low.”
Records showed that out of 250 voters at the polling booth, 41 male and 19 female voters had exercised their franchise. “The area is considered to be a hotbed of the Maoists, who have given a poll boycott call in the region,” said a CRPF official.
In neighbouring Lutua panchayat, the voters had also boycotted the poll. Patrolling magistrate Anil Kumar Paswan said the residents had given a poll boycott call for lack of development work. Though the officials tried to persuade the voters, the latter refused to budge.

“We are waiting since 7am but nobody has turned up to cast his/her vote at the polling booth (number 243) under Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency. The polling in booths located in the stronghold of the Maoists came to an end at 4pm,” a senior official posted at the Aurangabad district magistrate’s office said.
Aurangabad is among the four LS constituencies that went to the polls in the first phase on Thursday. Around 41,000 security personnel were deployed for the first phase of election for Gaya (SC), Nawada, Jamui (SC) and Aurangabad Lok Sabha seats. Of them, 17,000 were from the central armed police forces (CAMF) and the rest from the Bihar Military Police and the state armed police.
Two choppers were also pressed into service to keep a close watch on the movement of the Maoists, who had threatened to vitiate the poll process. In addition, sniffer dogs were also engaged in de-mining process, which led to the seizure of explosives both pre-poll and post poll exercise.
“We had made foolproof security arrangements for the first phase of elections held in the four Maoist-hit constituencies. Barring sporadic incidents of skirmishes and group clashes outside the polling booths, no any major incident was reported,” ADG (headquarters) Kundan Krishnan said.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA