As the first round of voting in Chhattisgarh continued, an encounter broke out between naxals and security personnel stationed near Minpa in Sukma district, officials stated on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported. In the exchange of fire, four security personnel sufferred injuries. More details regarding the incident are awaited.
Meanwhile, an IED bomb set off by Naxalites, as well as three separate skirmishes between them and security forces, hampered the first phase of voting in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, authorities said, PTI reported.
A commando of the CRPF's elite CoBRA unit was injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) detonation in Sukma district as his unit was conducting an area domination operation to maintain security during the polls, they added.
According to police, an AK-47 weapon was confiscated during an incident between Naxalites and security officers in Kanker district, where voting is taking place in the first round of the state assembly elections.
The police claimed that some Naxalites were killed or injured during the clash.
According to a senior police officer, the incident occurred about 1 p.m. in Panavar village within the Bande police station borders while a joint team of the Border Security Force (BSF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an area domination operation in preparation for polling.
An AK-47 rifle was seized from the scene after the weapons were silenced. He stated that a search was ongoing in the region.
Bande is part of the Antagarh assembly sector, which is one of the 20 constituencies voting in the first phase of state elections on Tuesday.
Another clash occurred between security personnel and Naxalites in the Narayanpur district's Orchha police station area.
According to authorities, no harm was done to security officers in these two cases.
On Monday, two polling workers and a BSF jawan were injured in the Chhotebethiya police station area of Antagarh constituency after a pressure improvised explosive device (IED) installed by Naxalites exploded as polling parties were being taken to their polling booths.
On Tuesday, the first phase of the two-phase elections for the 90-member state house will be place in 20 seats.