Chhattisgarh: ITBP jawan escorting polling team killed in Naxal blast

Gariaband, Nov 17 (PTI) A jawan of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was killed in a blast triggered by Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district where polling for the second phase of assembly elections took place on Friday, police said.

The incident took place near Bade Gobra village under Mainpur police station area when a polling team escorted by security personnel was returning after the voting was over, a senior police official said.

Polling across 70 constituencies in the state was held from 8 am to 5 pm. But in nine polling booths in the Naxal-affected Bindranawagarh constituency in Gariaband district, voting was held from 7 am to 3 pm for security reasons.

Bade Gobra was among these nine booths in Bindranawagarh which borders on neighbouring Odisha.

As election officials escorted by security personnel were returning to Mainpur after the polling ended, Naxals triggered a blast that killed head constable Joginder Singh of the ITBP on the spot, said the police official.

The rest of the team safely reached the Mainpur police station, he added.

The first phase of elections in 20 of the 90 assembly seats in Chhattisgarh was held on November 7. PTI COR TKP NP KRK