But for him, We would have been dead

Pattan, Baramulla, Apr 24 (UNI) ''He is our saviour. If he wasn't there, we would have been dead by now,'' said a polling official of a security force jawan in Pattan constituency today.

Qazi Ghulam Jeelani, the presiding officer of a polling station at Astan Mohalla in Raipora area of Palhalan in Pattan constituency, was virtually shivering while narrating the sequence of events following a grenade attack at the booth by some unidentified assailants.

Pointing to a personnel of 53 battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF), a visibly shaken Jeelani told UNI that he controlled the mob which indulged in stone-pelting and tried to storm the polling station and take possession of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

''Had Chatturbuj Ram (the BSF constable) not been there, the miscreants would have killed us...We would have been dead by now,'' he said.

Giving details about the incident, Mr Jeelani said at around 0930 hrs this morning when the voting was in progress, some unidentified assailants threw a grenade at the polling station.

A polling official, Abdul Razak Dar, and two voters -- Ghulam Mohiuddin Hajam and Abdul Razak Hajam -- were wounded in the attack.

Mr Dar, who had received splinter wounds in his abdomen, was immediately rushed to a hospital here.

Mr Jeelani said the polling was suspended for about an hour. As many as 224 out of the total 909 voters had exercised their franchise till 0930 hrs when the attack took place, he added.

He said immediately afterwards, the miscreants pelted stones at the booth and tried to take the possession of EVMs.

''The assailants tried to storm the polling station, but were prevented to enter the booth by BSF constable Chatturbuj Ram. He controlled the mob and saved us,'' Mr Jeelani said, adding the voting later resumed after about an hour.

''It is the height of things that so far no senior official has visited us. We are left at the mercy of God,'' he lamented.

Talking to UNI, Chatturbuj Ram said it was a do or die situation for him. ''I did my duty. My other colleagues were controlling the situation outside the polling station,'' he added.

Later, the voters alleged that the assailants had used a white-coloured Tata Sumo to hurl the grenade on the polling station.

As the assailants were trying to escape, the people managed to stop the moving Tata Sumo, bearing registration number JK03-1857, and set the vehicle on fire, the eyewitnesses said.

The locals alleged that posters of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate and top Shia cleric Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari were seized from the vehicle.

In Pattan, Moulvi Ansari is facing a tough contest from National Conference (NC) candidate Sheikh Mustaffa Kamal, the uncle of party president Omar Abdullah and brother of former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.

UNI AG RA VP2125