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Violence mars Tripura tribal council poll

AGARTALA, April 30 (PTI) — Outlawed militants captured a booth, clashed with security personnel and snatched weapons as violence marred the first phase of elections today to Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council (TTDAC) in different parts of the state, official sources said.

A group of insurgents of the banned All-Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) opened fire at a booth at Padmam Ohanpara under the Kalyanpur police station of West Tripura district. The jawans of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and the CRPF deployed there fired in retaliation. After a brief encounter the ultras fled. There were no casualties.

The police said a group of about six insurgents of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), armed with automatic weapons, stormed a booth under the Kulai-Champahaor constituency, overpowered CRPF personnel and captured the booth disrupting polling for about two hours.

Later S.P. Dhalai, T.B. Roy rushed to the booth with additional forces and polling was restored.

Insurgents of the NLFT kidnapped five persons, including a nine-year-old girl, in two separate incidents on the eve of the polls, the police said.