Grenade attack hits polling in militancy prone Pulwama

Srinagar, May 06: Suspected terrorists hurled a grenade near a polling booth in South Kashmir's Pulwama on Monday where voting is underway for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections.

There are no reports of any injuries or causalities so far. Pulwama is a terrorism infested region of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pulwama is part of Anantnag parliament constituency where elections are being held in three phases. In the last two phases in Anantnag and Kulgam districts, the voter turnout was a dismal 12 per cent. The voting in Anantnag Lok Sabha is being held in three phases because of the security situation in the region.

As per reports, all the 450 polling stations in the district have been declared hypersensitive. Based on the security assessment, polling booths located deep inside villages were relocated and shifted to safer locations.

Because of fears of violence the administration has spread polling in Anantnag over phases. While Anantnag and the adjoining areas went to polls on April 23, Shopian and Pulwama are voting today.

The decision to conduct the election in phases was taken on the basis of the feedback by the security forces. Security officials had explained the difficulty in conducting the elections in Anantnag. The districts of Shopian and Pulwama are swarming with terrorists. The recent suicide strike at Pulwama was also cited as one of the reasons.

The Anantnag parliamentary constituency is spread over four districts.