Poll staff asked to move on foot in Maoist-hit areas of Bihar's Vaishali

MUZAFFARPUR: Over 6,000 polling personnel and nearly 8,000 policemen had joined their duties by Saturday evening for conducting peaceful poll at 1,502 booths in Vaishali Lok Sabha constituency on the last leg of polling on Monday.

Giving this information to newsmen here on Saturday Muzaffarpur DM and returning officer of the constituency said every polling staff has been advised to move on foot as far as possible in Maoist-hit areas of Sahebganj, Paru and Minapur assembly segments where polling will be held only upto 4pm on May 12.

The DM said all possible precautions had been taken to avoid any action from the Maoists in view of the landmine blast on the evening of last Lok Sabha election in Vaishali area. He said every polling staff had been given written direction of "dos and don't " on paper particularly those deployed in three violence-prone segments. The poll personnel have already been briefed by him and they would be briefed by senior magistrates at block headquarters on Sunday too, he said.

The DM said commandos of Chitah, Cobra and STF battalions have been pressed into service to avert any violence by Maoists. Moreover, one helicopter will arrive here on Sunday to cover the entire Vaishali constituency during the polling hours for rescue and relief work, if required.

Taking lessons from shortage of facilities to poll personnel during the election held for Muzaffarpur constituency on May 7, the administration has arranged shelter, water supply, seating facilities at all booths this time in Vaishali area. Moreover, for the first time, medical kits have also been provided to every booth to meet emergency situation in case of any violence, the DM added.