MP poll saw several incidents of violence

Anup Dutta

Bhopal, November 19

Several incidents of violence linked to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections have been reported from the state with former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh calling off his sit-in outside a police station in Chhatarpur district on the second day on Sunday.

One of the incidents took place on Friday morning in the Rajnagar constituency where sitting Congress MLA Vikarm Singh Natiraja is pitted against BJP’s Arvind Pateria.

“I am an eyewitness myself, BJP workers crushed Salman Khan to death with a car at 4 am in Akona village on Friday,” Natiraja told mediapersons. They tried to run the vehicle over me as well, he alleged. Two Congress workers also sustained injuries in the incident and a murder case was registered against Pateria and 20 others, said an official.

A case was registered under Sections 302, 307, 147, 149, 294 and 506 of the IPC against BJP candidate Arvind Pateria and his 20 associates, Amit Sanghi, Chattarpur Superintendent of Police, said.

On Saturday, Digvijaya Singh reached Chhatarpur district from Bhopal and sat on a dharna outside the Khajurao police station. He, along with Congress MLAs Alok Chaturvedi and Vikram Singh Natiraja, and other leaders, stayed overnight in a tent to demand the arrest of a BJP candidate.

On the day of polling, the high-profile Dimani Assembly seat in Morena district, from where Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is contesting, witnessed gunfire and stone-throwing incidents, leaving several injured. Prince Tomar, a youth, suffered severe injuries and was admitted to a hospital, said media reports.

In a separate incident linked to poll violence, the Indore police booked Eklavya Gaud, son of BJP MLA Malini Gaud, for allegedly beating up Congress workers near a polling booth in Sindhi Colony. Clashes broke out in the high-profile Indore-1 Assembly seat from where BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya is taking on Congress’ Sanjay Shukla.

Tension escalated in the closing minutes of voting in the Jabalpur (East) Assembly seat where Congress MLA Lakhan Ghanghoria is contesting against BJP’s Anchal Sonkar. Over 20 alleged BJP workers gathered at the Congress office in Shitlamai in the evening, reports said. After an exchange of heated words from both sides, stones were hurled and some miscreants reportedly threw country-made bombs.

#Madhya Pradesh