Bhubaneswar, Feb 15 (PTI) About 69 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in the third phase of panchayat polls in Odisha today which remained peaceful barring some stray incidents of violence and snatching of ballot boxes by Maoists in Kalahandi district. "An estimated 69 per cent of the 53.88 lakh electorate voted in the third phase of panchayat elections," state Election Commissioner Ajit Tripathy told reporters here. Boudh district registered the maximum voter turnout of 85 per cent, while Koraput district recorded the minimum 50 per cent polling. The third phase of polling was held for 188 zilla parishad zones and 1,350 gram panchayats. The elections for the remaining two phases are slated to be held on February 17 and 19. The first phase was held on February 11 and second on February 13. Polling passed off by and large peacefully barring some stray incidents of violence and attempted booth capturing in some areas with Maoists snatching ballot boxes in three booths under Trilochanpur gram panchayat of Lanjigarh block in Kalahandi district, Lanjigarh BDO P K Nayak said. Soon after the incident, security forces including Special Operations Group (SOG) jawans had launched a massive combing operation in the area, Kalahandi SP Sudha Singh said. Disturbances were reported from 14 booths spread over nine districts, SEC sources said. In Bhadrak district, 12 people were injured in a clash between two groups, sources said. PTI AAM SKN RG
