Malkangiri: Despite heavy security arrangements, Maoist threats led to zero voter turn-out in many booths of Chitrakonda Swabhiman area here during the first phase of general elections today.
Till 3pm, as much as 60 per cent of the voting had been done in the district, Malkangiri District administration reports said.
While there are 540 booths in the district, administration officials had a tough time as no voters turned up in many booths. Special arrangements had been made to cluster nine booths and voting arrangements had been made for them in Kunturupadar, near BSF camp.
However, given the Maoist threat to chop off fingers of those who poll, locals refrained from voting. The officials were trying to convince the voters till the filing of this report.
On the other hand, voting was delayed in many parts due to glitches in EVM machines. Moreover, locals from Luher, Temurubali, Akadrashi area under Mathili block boycotted voting due to various demands.
It may be noted here that the red rebels had earlier pasted posters, warning people of dire consequences if they went voting. However, with security arrangements, voting is going on smoothly in many parts.
The district has a total of 4,20,358 voters. With 126 polling booths in Maoist areas, security arrangements have been beefed up to avoid any untoward incident.