In the Tondamarka region of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh, an IED bomb set off by Naxals injured a CRPF jawan of CoBRA Battalion who was on election duty, according to reports, citing SP Kiran Chavan.

This occurs just after phase-1 voting for 20 Chhattisgarh seats started. In the Mizoram assembly, voting has begun for all 40 seats, with the exception of Chhatisgarh.

According to a senior police source, the explosion happened while a combined team of the CRPF and Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA) 206th battalion was conducting an area domination operation from Tondamarka camp towards Elmagunda hamlet to maintain security during polls.

The official said that the explosion occurred because Inspector Shrikant of CoBRA 206th battalion unintentionally stepped over the IED—which was set by Naxalites—during patrolling. Polling for the first phase of the two-phase Chhattisgarh elections is taking place on Tuesday in 20 seats, including the territory that is part of the Konta assembly segment.

However, voting has begun in 20 constituencies across polling places. Mohan Markam, a congress candidate from the Kondagaon assembly seat, cast his ballot and declared that his party would be successful in regaining control of the state legislature.

There is not a problem. People are excited, and given the work our government has done over the past five years, we think we can successfully form the government again, he said.

I have no doubt that I will triumph from Kondagaon a third time. The BJP is utilising ED because it cannot compete with the Congress in Chhattisgarh, he continued.

Lakheshwar Baghel, a Bastar-based congress candidate, stated that voters are informed and that this time around’s turnout is probably going to exceed 80%.

Meanwhile, today is the first phase of polling in 20 constituencies in Chhattisgarh, including the Bastar division, which is affected by the Naxals. In order to guarantee a seamless voting process, over 600 polling places situated in vulnerable areas across the 20 constituencies have been outfitted with a tri-layered security cover.

The 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will have its second round of voting on November 17; on December 3, four additional poll-bound states will participate in the vote-counting process.

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On Wednesday evening, an IED explosion close to a culvert in Manipur’s Bishnupur district left an eight-year-old boy and two teenagers seriously injured. Around the same time, miscreants opened fire indiscriminately in at least two villages in the Kangpokpi district as violence returned to the distressed state after a four-day break.

The explosive was brought in an SUV and placed close to the culvert with the intention of damaging the vital Tiddim route between Kwakta town and Phougakchao Awang Leikai and impeding Army and other security force movement, according to the sources. A hollow spot was left in the road after the explosion. The injured boys were taken to a Moirang hospital. It was not immediately clear how the boy and two teenagers were caught in the blast, the sources added.

Two days prior, CM N Biren Singh issued a warning to armed Meitei citizens and Kuki militants to cease hostilities or suffer repercussions. However, a number of assaults have been made in recent days on communities in Kangvai, Phouljang, Gothol, and Songdo that are close to the location of the IED detonation.

According to sources, intermittent gunfire was heard at dusk in the Kangpokpi district village of Haraothel in the foothills. In the nearby village of L Munlai in the region of Leimakhong, shots were also reportedly fired. Patrols of Assam Rifles chased the shooters away.

The two topographical divisions that define the ethnic confrontations in Manipur since May 3 are the Imphal Valley and the mountains, and these villages are close to the tense buffer zone between them.

When nine persons, including a 32-year-old lady, were slain in a battle between assailants and villagers at Aigejang village in Kangpokpi district earlier on June 13, Manipur experienced its worst single-day death toll ever. The battle has already claimed more than 100 lives in the state.

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Eleven personnel of the CRPF and the state police were injured in an IED blast triggered by Naxals in Jharkhand’s Seraikela Kharsawan district in the early hours of Tuesday, officials said.

The blast took place around 5 am when a joint team of the CRPF’s special jungle warfare unit, CoBRA, and the state police was carrying out an operation in the forests of Kuchai area in the district, they said.

According to officials, the improvised explosive device (IED) is suspected to have been buried under the dirt track.

The injured troops, eight of the CoBRA and rest belonging to the state police, have been airlifted to state capital Ranchi, they said.

The joint team was being led by the 209th battalion of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) of the Central Reserve Police Force deployed in the state for anti-Naxal operations, officials said.

(With PTI Inputs)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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