Maoists fire at polling booth during Maharashtra re-poll

Maoists fire at polling booth during Maharashtra re-poll Nagpur, Oct 15 : Suspected Maoists fired at a polling booth Thursday during re-poll in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, police said.

Additional Superintendent of Police M. K. Sharma said a group of Maoists attempted to disrupt the polling and scare away voters in Kotni village in Aheri assembly constituency.

"The security forces opened retaliatory fire. The firing on both sides continued for quite some time before the Maoists withdrew. Now the situation is under control and polling is on," Sharma told IANS.

The Election Commission had ordered re-polling in 22 stations in Aheri and Amori assembly constituencies. The state assembly elections were held Tuesday.

Sharma said that besides the police, paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force and other security agencies are present "in sufficient numbers" to foil any further Maoist attacks.

"There is also continuous aerial surveillance going on and our forces are on full alert," he said.(IANS)