Booth capturing attempt foiled in Assam's Hailakandi

A mob representing two rival political parties made an unsuccessful attempt to capture a polling booth in Hailakandi district in Assam's Barak Valley during the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.

The incident came to light after Sector Officer Manidhar Singha filed an FIR at the Hailakandi Sadar police station wherein he mentioned the presence of two political leaders in the midst of a mob.

"A mob representing two rival political forces assembled outside the polling station with an intention of booth capturing. Stones were hurled at the security personnel who had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the mob," Singha said.

The presiding officer, Basir Ahmed Barbhuiya, said polling inside the booth went on without any hiccups, as the security personnel took total control of the situation immediately.

It may be mentioned here that the Hailakandi district administration had imposed Section 144 in and around the district since Wednesday following reports that there might be disturbances during the polls.

There were 200 vulnerable and critical polling stations in the district.

Adequate deployment of police and central paramilitary forces were made to ensure peaceful polling.

"We thank the voters for coming out to vote in significant numbers. We would also like to thank the polling personnel, the Assam Police personnel and the security forces for their support to ensure smooth polling," said Keerthi Jalli, District Election Officer, Hailakandi.

Polling in 5 of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam started at 7 a.m. under tight security arrangements and ended at 5 p.m. Despite the scorching heat, long queues were seen at almost all the polling stations right since the morning.

--IANS

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