2 CRPF personnel killed in Manipur’s Naransena in an attack by militants

Bishnupur: Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel lost their lives in an attack by Kuki militants starting from Friday midnight at the Naransena area in Manipur, police said.

According to the police, the CRPF personnel were attacked by Kuki militants starting from midnight till 2:15 am.

The personnel who lost their lives are from the CRPF 128 Battalion deployed at the Naransena area in Bishnupur district in the state.

Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Electoral Officer, Pradeep Kumar Jha on Friday highlighted higher turnout and minimal incidents of violence in Outer Manipur in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls.

“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,” said Manipur Chief Electoral Officer.

He also said that people came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise during the second phase of voting. One incident of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctioning was reported at a polling booth and no major hiccups were reported.

“Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency, the 13 assembly segments… The voting has remained peaceful… One incident of damage to EVM has been reported so far. We are looking into it and have been following up with all the districts and they have reported that voting has been peaceful,” he told ANI.

Jha further said that voting in the Outer Manipur constituency had been relatively more peaceful compared to the 2019 election.

“People have turned out in huge numbers. 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. Except for one or two incidents, nothing major has happened and voting has been very encouraging,” Jha added.

According to the voter turnout app of the Election Commission of India, 78.78 per cent of votes were recorded till the last report.

Earlier, re-polling was held in 11 polling stations of the Inner Manipur constituency on April 22, after multiple incidents of violence were reported during the first phase of polling on April 19.

Polling for the second phase in 88 seats across 13 states and Union Territories (UTs) ended at 6 pm.

The first phase of voting for the seven-phased general elections was conducted successfully on April 19 in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories.

According to the Election Commission, the overall voter turnout in the opening phase was recorded at over 62 per cent.

The next round of polling will be held on May 7. The counting of votes and results will be declared on June 4.