Violence hits Bihar on poll day, 2 CRPF personnel killed

Maoists detonated a landmine killing two CRPF jawans and injuring seven others before polling began today for six Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar.
The two CRPF personnel were killed and seven others injured in Haveli Kharagpur area of Munger district when they were on their way to polling stations of Jamui constituency.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Khargpur, Ranjan Kumar told PTI that the men belonging to 131 CRPF battalion were travelling in two jeeps to Tarapur in the Maoist-affected district for poll duty in the early hours when the attack took place.
The Maoists first detonated an improvised explosive device and then fired on the CRPF personnel near Sawa Lakh Baba Mandir at the entrance of Bhimbandh jungle at around 5.30 am with the security personnel returning the fire.

The dead CRPF personnel were head constable Ravindra Rai and constable Sone Gora, Kumar said.
The seven injured were taken to the Bhagalpur hospital, from where four were flown by helicopter to Patna and admitted at a private hospital.

Principal Secretary Home Amir Subhani visited the injured security men and told them that their medical expenses would be borne by the state government.
A report from neighbouring Lakhisarai district quoting Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Singh said that the ultras bombed a government school in Narotampur which hosted CRPF personnel late last night, but there was no casualty as they had left by then.

A report from Maoist-hit Gaya district quoting Senior Superintendent of Police Nishant Kumar Tiwari said that the police seized and defused six can bombs weighing 30 kg each from Banke Bazar area in Imamganj Assembly segment, a part of Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat where polling was held during the day.
Maoists had earlier given a call for a poll boycott.
Lok Janashakti Party President Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag was in the fray from the Jamui parliamentary constituency against Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary of JD(U) and Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhaskar of RJD.
Voting ended at 4 pm in many Assembly segments of the six Lok Sabha seats in Maoist-hit areas. In other areas, electors exercised franchise till the scheduled 6 pm.