Maoists strike on poll-eve: kill poll official, torch vehicle
Phulbani (Odisha): The Maoists struck on the eve of second phase election in Odisha, gunning down a woman poll officer and setting ablaze a poll vehicle on way to their booths on Wednesday, police said.
Both the incidents occurred in Maoist affected Kandhamal district where the red rebels have asked the people to boycott the elections.
The ultras gunned down a woman polling officer when she was taking a team of poll personnel to a booth on the eve of second phase election, police said.
Sector Officer Sanjukta Digal was shot dead when she got down from the vehicle to check a suspicious object lying on the road while passing through a jungle near Balandapada village under Gochhapada police station limits, DGP B K Sharma told PTI.
Other four polling personnel were in the vehicle and were unhurt.
The incident occurred in Phulbani assembly segment under Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat where polling is scheduled to begin at 7 am on Thursday.
In the other incident, the rebels set ablaze a vehicle carrying election officials to a polling booth in a village in remote Phiringia police station area.
Kandhamal district collector cum returning officer D Brunda said the initial report in this regard said armed Maoists in uniform asked the officials to get down from the vehicle before they set fire to it.
Police said all the official are safe but it was not clear what happened to poll materials like the EVMs. Police suspect that the KKBN (Kalahandi-Kandhamal- Boudh-Nayagarh) division of the CPI(Maoist) was involved in both the incidents.
A few days ago, the Maoists have put up posters and banners in the district asking the people to boycott the polls.
Keeping in view the Maoist presence in Kandhanal district, the Election Commission has limited the polling time from 7 am to 4 pm in seven assembly segments in it.
Polling is being held for Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies simultaneously in the state.
While the first phase voting was held on April 11, there are three more phases on April 18, 23 and 29.
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26 killed, 61 injured in blast at fireworks factory in China
Beijing (PTI): At least 26 people were killed and 61 others injured in a massive explosion at a fireworks factory in China's Hunan province, officials said on Tuesday.
The explosion occurred on Monday afternoon at the plant operated by the Huasheng fireworks manufacturing and display company in Liuyang, a county-level city under Changsha, the provincial capital.
Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed massive destruction of property spanning several kilometres.
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More than 480 rescuers, organised into five teams, have been deployed for relief operations, with three rescue robots pressed into service.
Officials said 26 people were killed and 61 others were injured. The injured have been rushed to hospitals for treatment, while a second round of search operations is underway.
China is a leading manufacturer and exporter of fireworks.
As the explosion site is located near two black powder warehouses, the rescuers have evacuated nearby residents and set up a buffer zone to prevent a secondary accident, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The Ministry of Emergency Management has dispatched experts to the scene to guide rescue efforts.
The person in charge of the company has been detained by police and the cause of the accident is being investigated, the report said.
