Patna: An estimated 60.5 per cent votes
were cast in the third phase of panchayat election in Bihar
on Wednesday amid reports of stray violence in which one person was
killed, state Election Commissioner JK Dutta said.
Today`s was the highest percentage of votes polled so
far, he said adding Kishanganj district recorded the highest
turnout in today`s polls at 74 per cent, while the lowest
was witnessed in Sheikhpura (51.5 per cent), he said.
The third phase of panchayat polls were held for
27,022 posts for which 87,092 candidates were in fray.
A man, identified as Vinay Sahni (35) was shot dead by
assailants in Rampur Khurd village in Sheohar district this
evening after the polls apparently due to political reasons,
sub-divisional police officer MS Vakeel Ahmed said.
The police arrested 887 persons, seized 219 vehicles,
Rs 2.61 lakh in cash and 48 litre of liquor and 10 mobile
phones for electoral malpractices, Dutta said.
In another incident, villagers pelted stones and fired
five rounds on policemen in their bid to capture polling
booths in Rikhar panchayat under Lalganj block in Vaishali
district injuring several policemen, the police said.
The police fired three rounds in retaliation and
arrested one person in this connection. The village chowkidar
too was arrested for his failure to provide input to the
police about the surging mob, the sources said.
The villagers later clashed among themselves in which
one person was injured, they said.
The police also fired two rounds in the air to
disperse miscreants at another polling booth in Lalganj block
after they pelted stones on the former in trying to free a
Mukhiya candidate arrested on charges of booth grabbing, the
sources said.
A policeman was injured in stone pelting by some
villagers at a polling booth under Khutina panchayat in
Madhubani district, while snatching of ballot papers were
reported from Araria and Vaishali district, they said.
A polling official Arun Kumar Sinha died of heart
attack at Charpokhari panchayat in Bhojpur district, while a
magistrate Abhinash Kumar Singh was removed from election duty
in Begusarai district as he was found drunk while on duty.
PTI
