Nagaland registered a voter turnout of 84.69 per cent till 6 p.m., Chief Electoral Officer Nagaland V Shashank Shekhar said.
Addressing the media here on Monday evening, Shekhar clarified that the polling percentage was tentative since detailed information from all district returning officers were yet to be received.
He mentioned that poor network connectivity also prevented polling officers from updating their status, as voters who had queued inside the polling station were allowed to vote beyond 4 pm.
He said Mon, Tseminyu and Pughoboto recorded the highest voter turnout with over 90% polling.
The CEO admitted that there were some stray incidents of violence reported in the morning from certain constituencies, but claimed that the quick intervention of security forces helped control the situation and the election was by and large peaceful.
To a query on whether any re-poll request has been made by any political party or candidate, Shekhar said this would be known only after scrutiny of reports from all the returning officers on Tuesday. He said if any such request was received, it would be sent to Election Commission of India (ECI), which would examine the gravity of the issue and announce the date for re-poll if any.
On the incident in Ghaspani II where the presiding officer on duty allegedly “ran away” in an inebriated state as circulated in social media platforms, Shekhar replied that he would not be able to comment unless there was an official report in this regard.
IGP (Range) and state nodal police officer for election, Limasunep Jamir said that polling was largely peaceful and successfully completed in all the 2315 polling stations.
He said that there were a few cases of minor incidents and heated exchanges between supporters of rival political parties in Mokokchung, Wokha, Mon, Zunheboto and Tseminyu. However, timely intervention of police and Central armed police forces (CAPF) prevented the situation from spiralling out of control he said.
The IGP disclosed that few incidents were reported from Akuk village in the vicinity of polling stations no. 1 and 4 under 40 Bhandari AC in Wokha district where stone pelting took place between supporters of two political parties at around 6:30 am. He said firing incident was also reported, though it could not be ascertained which side fired the shots that injured three persons.
He mentioned that Madhya Pradesh Armed Police stationed at the polling station fired eight rounds in the air and eventually brought the situation under control. The injured had been evacuated to the hospital and were reported to be safe, he added.
The IGP also informed media that stone pelting by unknown persons on security personnel on reserve duty was also reported from 55 Monyakshu AC in Mon district where one Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and one Nagaland Police personnel sustained minor injuries.
Also, firing incidents were reported from around 200 metres of polling station no. 2 at Awotsakili village under 32 Atoizu A/C. He said three firing incidents occurred at 10:30 am, 11:30 am and 1 pm.
Reinforcement of one section of 35 UP’s Provincial Armed Constabulary, one section of 9 IRB and special team of DEF Zunheboto personnel were sent to the spot.
Limasunep however stated that there was no report of any casualty or destruction of property anywhere and suspected the involvement of underground elements in the incidents.
MP policeman dies in accident: Further, he revealed that one Madhya Pradesh Police constable died on the spot and three others sustained injuries when a vehicle carrying them met with an accident near N Longchum in Wokha district. He said the injured were shifted to hospital for medical treatment, while the mortal remains of the deceased was brought back to Wokha for further necessary formalities.
Arrests& seizures: Meanwhile, the IGP informed media that police recovered Rs.1,99,350 in cash on the day of polling from different parts of the state, taking the total value of such seizures during Model Code of Conduct (MCC) to Rs 35,79,49,059, which was over tenfold increase from the previous election.
He said 40 persons were apprehended from different parts of the State in the last 24 hours, taking the total of such detention to 2,900.
On the number of cases registered to date, Limasunep said about 128 cases had been registered and maximum cases were related to Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act and Narcotics Act, while about 15 cases of violence had been registered.
The IGP pointed out that post poll violence was prevalent across the county and that these could not be completely ruled out. He however asserted that the State was prepared to tackle any issue and would follow the directive of ECI, adding that some CAPF companies would be retained in the State.
Chungtia village killing accused arrested
Sunep also revealed that the main accused in the killing of one person at Chungtia on February 20 has been arrested on Monday.
He said more details were awaited while certain arrests were also made in connection with violence in different constituencies.
