Suspected Maoists blast poll candidate's office in Jharkhand

Palamau (Jharkhand), Dec 10 (ANI): Suspected Maoist activists blasted offices of three candidates of the ongoing state assembly polls in Jharkhand's Palamau district on Wednesday evening.

Polls to the Jharkhand state legislature are being held in five phases of which three stages have already completed polling for the last two phases will be held on December 12 and 18.

To protest the ongoing polls, suspected Maoists allegedly set on fire posters and banners of candidates and bombed their make-shift offices. Besides setting ablaze vehicles of the candidates.

Reports said that the office of Ranjan Yadav, a former Maoist contesting from jail, was among those attacked.

"They came around 8 o clock in the night and burnt jeeps and two wheelers," said Ramesh Singh, a local resident.

Videsh Singh, a former lawmaker and an independent candidate, said that if the Election Commission did not take the development in Palamau into consideration then more devastating things would happen.

"The law and order situation has turned from bad to worse here. Though the election commission has claimed that they will conduct a peaceful election but I feel that in Palamau district in Jharkhand that is not possible," Videsh Singh said.

"This is a kind of a challenge for the election commission and they must take the matter into consideration else more devastating things would happen during December 18 polls," Singh cautioned. (ANI)