30 per cent voters cast vote in Umerkote by-poll

Nabarangpur (Odisha), Nov 30 (PTI) About 30 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise by noon today for by-election in Umerkote assembly constituency of Odisha's Maoist-infested Nabarangpur district. Amidst tight security, polling was in progress in a peaceful manner at 162 booths of which 70 have been identified as sensitive and 67 as hyper-sensitive, official sources said. "Voting is on peacefully and no untoward incident has been reported anywhere in the assembly segment where an estimated 1,65,037 voters are eligible to vote," said a senior official. The contesting candidates in the tribal-dominated segment are Dharmu Gond of BJP, Subas Gond of BJD and Jatindra Gond of Congress Party. Armed police personnel in strength and central para military force have been deployed in various places in and around the constituency, bordering Chhattisgarh. Of the 32 gram panchayats in the constituency 15 have Maoist pockets with securitymen keeping vigil on polling booths. The Central Para Military Force personnel have been deployed in border entry points of the constituency and also stationed at strategic locations.     Altogether 750 polling personnel and 17 sectoral officers have been deployed in the constituency for polling. Five executive magistrates have also been put on duty, sources said.