News from Jajpur

A total of 98 persons have been arrested till date in poll violence cases in Jajpur district

The one noticeable thing during the three phases of polling so far has been that the most of the major incidents of violence have taken place in the politically volatile coastal Odisha while polling has passed off relatively peacefully in the areas grappling with left wing extremism.

A total of 22 persons, including the main accused and his accomplices who are yet to be identified, were detained by the Binjharpur Police after multiple raids in Bachhol Panchayat yesterday in the aftermath of the attack.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took to Twitter to condemn the attack on the scribes who were covering the election. 

Two police personnel sustained multiple injuries in stone pelting incident by the two groups over booth rigging allegations at booth no-14 at Jari Panchayat of Bijharpur block in the district today.

Three journalists of an electronic media house had gone to cover the alleged loot of ballot boxes from two booths at Bachala Panchayat under Binjharpur block when they were brutally assaulted by unidentified miscreants.

As per preliminary reports, four miscreants entered the booth and decamped with the ballot boxes at between 9: 15 am and 9:30 am today. Later, the miscreants reportedly threw the boxes in a nearby pond.

On the other hand, 5 persons were arrested and forwarded to a court for their alleged involvement in the looting of ballot boxes from three booths in Patsara Block of Jagatsinghpur. 

While a booth rigging incident was reported from Jajpur district, people scuffled with police in Bargarh district.

Further, the DGP has assured that strict security measures will be in place for the remaining four phases of rural elections so as to ensure the conduct of the election in a free and fair manner.

In the video, circulating on the social media, it can be clearly seen the Sarpanch candidate and his supporters forcefully capturing the ballot box and dropping multiple ballot papers into it after stamping on their election symbol.

The fresh fatalities pushed the virus death toll in the State to 8612. 

The matter came to the fore after some villagers reported the incident to the district administration following which the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) was directed to inquire into the matter and submit a detailed report.

"We already have three children. As I am a daily wager, it will be very hard to feed a six-member family. So, we decided to hand over the newborn to a childless couple, who happens to be a relative, to adopt and raise the baby girl well," said the father.

The superintendents and the deputy superintendents of the two examination centres have been served show-cause notices, the official said.