Maoist-hit areas of Singhbhum to witness voting for first-time; polling teams to be air dropped
Ranchi (PTI): Come May 13, many interior areas in the Maoist den of Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat in Jharkhand will witness voting for the first time, or after decades-long gap, as polling teams and materials will be air dropped from helicopters to enable people living in Saranda, Asia's densest Sal forest, to exercise their franchise.
As many as 118 remote booths will be set up by personnel and materials dropped from choppers.
"We are committed to ensuring that no voter is left out... we have identified many areas where polling will be conducted for the first time or after nearly two decades as these locations were badly affected by Maoist insurgency," West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner cum District Election Officer Kuldeep Chaudhary told PTI.
Despite improvement in the situation, West Singhbhum remains one of the worst left-wing extremism-affected districts of the country. It had witnessed 46 Maoist-related incidents resulting in 22 deaths last year.
Polling stations such as Middle School, Nugdi and Madhya Vidyalaya, Borero will witness voting for the first time this election, the DC said.
"As many as 118 booths in difficult locations such as Robokera, Binj, Thalkobad, Jaraikela, Roam, Rengrahatu, Hansabeda and Chhotanagra have been identified for air dropping. In some areas, polling parties will have to walk for 4-5 km. We are ensuring that no area remains untouched this time," Chaudhary said.
Thalkobad and about two dozen other villages were earlier dubbed as "liberated zones" but the administration succeeded in establishing its presence through massive operations by security forces, including Operation Anaconda. A total of 15 new camps of security forces have been established in the region.
"Besides helicopters, polling parties will travel through trains and roads. As many as 121 teams will be dispatched by trains, for which dry runs have been conducted. Teams on foot have to reach cluster points, and then go to polling stations. By 5.30 am on the polling date, all teams must reach the stations to conduct mock polling," he said.
The DC said the constituency has over 62 voters who are over 100 years of age.
One among them is Walter Lakra of Nandpur area in Manoharpur police station who told the DC that he would not be able to walk to the polling booth. Chaudhary said he will get the option to exercise his franchise at his doorstep.
"For these 62 voters, and 3,909 electors aged above 85 years, besides 13,703 persons with disability, we have ensured that they get the option of home voting," he said.
The administration is resorting to innovative ways, including putting up a giant sky balloon at a height of 100 feet, and running 1,284 'Chunav Pathshala' under the Systematic Voter's Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) to make people aware of the need to exercise their franchise.
Singhbhum, which is a reserved constituency for Scheduled Tribes, has 14.32 lakh voters, of whom 7.27 lakh are women.
Sitting MP Geeta Kora, the wife of former chief minister Madhu Koda, has been fielded from the seat by the BJP.
Kora, who was the lone Congress MP from Jharkhand in the outgoing Lok Sabha, joined the saffron camp recently. INDIA allies are yet to declare any candidate for the seat.
Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat has six assembly constituencies - Seraikela, Chaibasa, Majhganon, Jagnathpur, Manoharpur and Chakradharpur. Barring Seraikela which falls in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, the remaining segments fall in West Singhbhum district.
Lok Sabha polls in Jharkhand will be held in four phases on May 13, 20, 25 and June 1.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP had bagged 11 seats, while its ally AJSU had secured one. Both the JMM and Congress had won one seat each.
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
