Man hacked outside booth as violence mars 3rd phase

Kolkata, April 23

A man was on Tuesday hacked to death outside a polling booth in West Bengal, amid the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 21 seats across five eastern and north eastern states, officials said.

Voting is also underway in 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha, along with the Lok Sabha polls. A 52-year-old man, reportedly a Congress activist, was killed outside the booth during polling in Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency, a senior state police officer said.

Two other persons were also injured in the attack which, the Congress alleged, was perpetrated by workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. In the third phase of the General Election, polling is being held across six Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, four constituencies in Assam, five seats each in Bihar and West Bengal and a lone constituency in Tripura.

The polling process was also briefly hampered with reports of EVM malfunctioning in some states, and the arrest of two polling agents of the ruling BJP in Tripura, an election official said.

Bombs were reportedly hurled outside a booth in Balurghat seat of West Bengal, leading to commotion, he said, adding central forces also allegedly lathicharged a mob in Suti area of Jangipur.

Among the prominent candidates in the fray in Odisha are BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik, while in Bihar, Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) chief Sharad Yadav and state minister Dinesh Chandra Yadav are contesting the polls. — PTI