india

Updated: May 03, 2019 23:42 IST

Three days before the Khunti Lok Sabha constituency goes to poll on May 6, suspected members of outlawed CPI (Maoists) blew up the election office of BJP in the Kharsawan assembly segment on Friday night.

This is the second incident in the last 10 days of Maoists blowing up BJP’s election office. Last Thursday, suspected Maoists had blown up party’s office at Hariharganj in Palamu on Bihar-Jharkhand border, three days before polling in Palamu on April 29.

In Friday’s incident, the insurgents evacuated four drivers, engaged in elections campaigning and sleeping at the time in the BJP office at Chandni Chowk under Kharsawan police station, before planting explosives to trigger the blasts.

They released the drivers after the blasts. The office is situated around 200 metres away from the local police station.

One side of the office wall got damaged in the blast, which the police said was a low intensity one.

Seraikela-Kharsawan superintendent of police (SP) Chandan Kumar Sinha and BJP candidate

from Khunti and former chief minister Arjun Munda, visited the site after the blast.

A day before the incident, senior police officials, led by Inspector General (Operations) Ashish Batra, had visited Seraikela to monitor law and order situation in the constituency.

Kolhan DIG Kuldeep Dwivedi said, “Prima facie, it seems to be a Maoist incident. But the police are also probing if anti-social elements are behind this. Security has been enhanced in Kharsawan and other parts of the Kolhan division to ensure peaceful elections.”

Munda said, “Violence can’t damage democratic system in the country,” Munda added.

A police officer said security in three nearby districts, including West Singhbhum and East Singhbhum, had also been stepped up after the incident. polling is scheduled in Jamshedpur and Singhbhum constituencies on May 12.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to campaign in Chaibasa on May 6 for BJP candidate from Singhbhum Laxman Gilua, followed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi on May 7 in the same town for party candidate Geeta Koda.