Two days after what appeared to be peaceful polling in the restive Bastar Lok Sabha constituency in Chhattisgarh, Naxalites on Saturday struck two different places, killing 14 people, including five security personnel.
While returning after conducting elections in Kutru, polling parties came under fire on Saturday afternoon in Bijapur district. The teams were on their way to Gudma, about 400 km from here. "While most polling parties were on foot, 12 boarded a bus, probably because they could not walk," a senior police official from Bijapur told Business Standard.
The rebels blew up the bus by detonating a powerful landmine near Ketulnaar. According to reports, such was the severity of the blast that the bus was tossed several feet into the air. Seven employees deployed on election duty died on the spot, while five others sustained serious injuries.
Minutes later, in another incident, rebels blew up an ambulance of 108 Sanjeevani Express-an emergency medical service-near Darba, killing five Central Reserve Police Force jawans and injuring five others.
Senior police officials said the jawans were returning after election duty. "A few jawans were probably unwell; they boarded the ambulance," said G P Singh, Inspector General of Police. When the ambulance reached Kamanaar, rebels detonated mines that blew up the vehicle. Five jawans, the driver and a medical technician were killed in the attack.
Injured jawans were transported to a hospital here in an air ambulance. Officials said the condition of two-three jawans was critical.
"Following today's incident, police chiefs of the districts concerned have been asked to take maximum precaution while moving polling parties," Singh said.
The two attacks sent shock waves among polling parties returning from sensitive locations in Naxal-affected areas.
In all, more than two dozen teams are yet to reach the district headquarters after conducting the elections on April 10.
During the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, too, Naxalites had targeted teams involved in carrying out election duties. In Rajnandgaon, rebels had attacked the vehicle of a zonal election officer, and killed five people near Gotatola.
