BSF personnel killed in Naxal attack, rebel gunned down ahead of Chhattisgarh polls
Raipur, Nov 11 : A BSF personnel was killed when Naxals detonated an IED, while a Maoist was gunned down in an encounter with police in separate incidents in Chhattisgarh on Sunday, a day ahead of the first phase of Assembly polls in the state.
Inspector General of Police (Raipur range) Dipanshu Kabra told PTI that a team of the Border Security Force (BSF) was out on an area domination operation in view of the polls on Monday when Naxals blew up the improvised explosive device (IED) in a forest in Kanker district, around 200 km from the state capital Raipur.
BSF sub-inspector Mahendra Singh was seriously injured in the blast and he succumbed to injuries while being taken to a hospital, said Kabra, who is the nodal officer for election-related security in the state.
Reinforcement was rushed to the spot, he said, adding that a search operation was still underway in the region. This is the fourth IED blast triggered by Naxals in Chhattisgarh in the last 15 days.
In another incident, a Maoist, clad in 'uniform' was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Bijapur district, located around 450 km from here.
The exchange of fire took place at a forest in Bedre area when a team of the Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, a senior police official said.
The body of the rebel and a rifle were recovered from the spot, he said.
Naxalites have called for a boycott of polls in the state and have executed half a dozen attacks in the last 15 days, three of them major ones which left 13 people dead including a camera-person of national broadcaster Doordarshan who was covering the election campaign.
On November 8, four civilians and a CISF jawan were killed when Naxals detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Dantewada district.
Besides, two BSF jawans were injured in an IED blast on November 2 in Kanker district. On October 30, three police personnel, besides the DD cameraman, were killed in the Maoist attack in Dantewada district.
Before that on October 27, four CRPF personnel, belonging to 168th battalion were killed and two others injured after Maoists blew up their bullet proof bunker vehicle with an IED in Bijapur district.
Security has been heightened in the eight districts which go to polls in the first phase on Monday. Around one lakh security personnel have been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of elections.
Polling parties are being sent to their destination amid tight security, election authorities said.
Helicopters have been pressed into service for air-lifting EVMs, polling personnel and polling materials to polling stations in sensitive remote areas, a senior police official earlier said.
Chopper services will be used for around 200 polling booths, he added.
The 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will go to polls in two phases -- on November 12 and 20 -- and the results will be announced on December 11.
The first phase of polls will cover 18 constituencies of eight Naxal-affected districts - Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon.
In the last Assembly polls, the BJP had won 49 seats and the Congress 39, while one seat each was bagged by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and an Independent.
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Delhi HC Judge Justice Sharma to pass order on recusal plea by Kejriwal at 4.30 pm
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court Judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Monday said that she would pronounce her verdict at 4.30 pm on pleas by Arvind Kejriwal and others seeking her recusal in the liquor policy case, as she took on record additional pleadings by the AAP chief on his plea.
Justice Sharma said although the pronouncement was scheduled for 2:30 pm, she was "going out of her way" in accepting Kejriwal's rejoinder as a written submission in the matter.
The former chief minister virtually appeared before the judge through video conferencing and urged her to take on record his rejoinder to the written submissions filed by the CBI.
Even as Kejriwal asserted that the registry's refusal to take his rejoinder on record was "miscarriage of justice", Justice Sharma remarked that since he was not being represented by a lawyer, the court went "out of its way" for him when it permitted him to file his additional affidavit last week even after the order on the recusal issue was reserved.
The judge said that as per the registry's rule, a party in-person must take permission from the court to file anything and since the present case was not "extraordinary", the same practice was being followed.
She added that in law, there is no concept of filing a "rejoinder" to the opposite party's written submissions, and she would permit Kejriwal to tender his pleadings as written submissions instead, so that he does not feel that he was not heard.
"You say you have respect for me. I have respect for every litigant. The rule of court will not be changed for anyone so I will treat it as written submissions. I am taking it on record. I am giving the indulgence to Mr Kejriwal," the court stated.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta appeared for the CBI and opposed Kejriwal's request to file rejoinder. Mehta said nowhere in the country were pleadings taken on record after order was reserved a court.
He also said there is no concept of filing rejoinder to a written submission, and the court should do what it would do for any ordinary litigant.
Kejriwal had raised several objections against the judge hearing the CBI's plea against his discharge in the liquor policy case, including that she had earlier denied him relief on his petition challenging his arrest and refused to grant relief on the bail pleas of other accused, including Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha.
He also claimed that Justice Sharma had made "strong and conclusive" findings.
The former Delhi chief minister further alleged a "direct conflict of interest", claiming that the judge's children are empanelled central government lawyers who receive work through the solicitor general, who is appearing in the matter for the CBI.
Besides Kejriwal, the applications for recusal of the judge were also filed by AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak.
Other respondents, including Vijay Nair and Arun Ramchandra Pillai, have also sought her recusal.
Solicitor General urged Justice Sharma to initiate contempt action against Kejriwal and others for seeking her recusal.
Terming concerns by Kejriwal and others as "apprehensions of an immature mind," Mehta told the court it was a matter of "institutional respect" and Justice Sharma should not succumb to pressure as her recusal on "unfounded allegations" would set a bad precedent.
On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the Delhi liquor policy case, saying that the CBI's case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety.
