MALKANGIRI:Ahead of panchayat polls, the looming threat of Maoists forced five election officials to flee a gram panchayat in cut off area of Malkangiri district on Friday.
In a day full of drama and twists, it started with the news of abduction of the election officials and a village chief in cut-off regions of Chitrakonda. When two of them returned in the evening, the matter came to light but there was no clarity on the matter.
While the abduction news grabbed headlines, there was no confirmation from the State Government. The State Election Commission (SEC) sought a report from the District Collector and Home Secretary Asit Tripathy asked DGP KB Singh to inquire into the incident. There was an unofficial gag of sorts on the district officials who refrained from making any statement whatsoever. Only when two of the “abducted’ officials made it to Kudmulguma block headquarters that an official word was put out.
While Additional DM Reghumani Gamang confirmed that two of the officials had returned, Chitrakonda SDPO Rahul PR said two have come back and another two are on their way back. A fifth official had, apparently, reached home. The SDPO also mentioned about an “indirect threat” from Maoists and said questioning will reveal the details.
However, insiders said, the polling officials had apparently been threatened by a group of Maoist militia in the cut off areas since no nomination paper was being submitted in the area. Under fear, they split in different groups and fled.
The five polling officials included Purusottam Behera, Lingaraj Majhi, Praveen Soren, Kaminikant Si and Hrushikesh Nayak and village chief Laxman Sisa. Only a few days ago, the Red rebels had warned the district officials against taking part in the poll process.
The officials were engaged to supervise poll preparation and receive nomination papers at Jodamba, Jantri, Gajalmamudi, Andrapalli and Panasput panchyats. In October last year, at least 30 Maoists were killed in a police encounter in Panasput area.
With Maoist threat gripping the region, not a single nomination paper for any of the posts has been filed in the cut off area since the filing of nomination papers started on Wednesday.