wo members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in an assault by Kuki militants commencing from Friday midnight in the Naransena area of Manipur, as per police reports.
The police stated that the Kuki militants launched the attack on CRPF personnel starting from midnight until 2:15 am. The deceased personnel belonged to the CRPF 128 Battalion stationed in the Naransena area of Bishnupur district in Manipur.
Meanwhile, Pradeep Kumar Jha, the Chief Electoral Officer of Manipur, highlighted a substantial increase in voter turnout and minimal incidents of violence in Outer Manipur during the second phase of Lok Sabha polls on Friday.
Jha remarked, “Till the last report that we received about an hour back, the voting percentage was in the range of 75 per cent and no major hiccups were reported.” He also noted the significant turnout of voters during the second phase of voting, with only one incident of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctioning reported at a polling booth.
In regard to the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency, Jha emphasized the peaceful nature of the voting process. “The voting has remained peaceful… One incident of damage to EVM has been reported so far,” he stated. He expressed optimism about the tranquility of the elections compared to the 2019 election, stating, “As compared to the previous elections, the election in Outer Manipur has been very peaceful… We are very hopeful that by late evening today, we should have a clear picture.”
According to the Election Commission of India’s voter turnout app, 78.78 per cent of votes were recorded until the last report.
Earlier, re-polling took place in 11 polling stations of the Inner Manipur constituency on April 22, following several instances of violence during the initial phase of polling on April 19. The polling for the second phase, covering 88 seats across 13 states and Union Territories (UTs), concluded at 6 pm.
The first phase of voting for the seven-phased general elections occurred successfully on April 19 in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories, recording an overall voter turnout of over 62 per cent.
The subsequent round of polling is scheduled for May 7, with the counting of votes and declaration of results set for June 4.