Saved from ambush, poll team forced to trek 20km

KORAPUT: A team of polling officials at the end of the first phase of voting on Thursday had to trek for nearly 20 km—taking an alternative route through dense forest and spending a sleepless night on a hilltop—to avoid a possible Maoist ambush on the road to

Malkangiri

.

The combined team of around 40 officials from six booths were saved in the nick of time. “Around 4.30pm we completed the poll process and were getting ready to leave when the security personnel told us we can’t use the official vehicle as there was danger on the road to Khairaput,” said Sunil Sabat, a polling official.

Having spent the night on a hillock in heavy rain with just a tarpaulin sheet for cover, the team finally reached the district headquarters town of Malkangiri around 10.30 on Friday morning.

In a scene reminiscent of the 2017 film Newton, a unit of special operations group jawans accompanied the officials and the route was tagged on GPS. “We had no option but to listen to the security personnel. They escorted us through the forest,” Sabat said.

Owing to Maoist threats, the administration had clubbed six polling booths of two panchayats, which house the Bonda tribe, to set it up at a school in Khairaput block. “We had specific inputs that the

Maoists

planned to attack the vehicle carrying the election officials. We chalked out an alternative route to take the officials to safety,” Malkangiri SP Jagmohan Meena said.

“It was a nightmare. It was raining and we had to keep the EVMs safe. The security team helped us reach safely,” said Jagana Behera, another polling official in the team.