Naxals preparing to boycott polls in Chhattisgarh: Police

Naxals were gearing up to organise a boycott of the coming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh and chalking out strategies for this, police said.

Security forces recently recovered some documents from Maoist-hit Bijapur district after an encounter with ultras, which revealed that the Gangalur Area Committee of Communist Party of India (Maoist) had organised a meeting in this connection.

Also, a Naxal who was arrested during the operation claimed that pamphlets and posters against polls had been prepared in large number.

Chhattisgarh will see two-phased polling in November for its 90 constituencies.

The joint party of STF (special task force) and a team of local police arrested a Naxal cadre after a gun-battle with ultras in the hills of Hiroli village last week, a senior police officer said.

The arrested Naxal, Sukhram Punem, 19, revealed during interrogation that they had prepared pamphlets and posters to spread their propaganda against government and urge people not to take part in polling, the officer said.

Punem was allegedly active as a member of Kurvish Militia Platoon since 2008-09 in the region, he added.

The officer also said that security forces were fully prepared to tackle Naxal threat during the polls. "We are working on every measure to conduct the first phase of poll in 18 Naxal-affected constituencies of southern region on November 11 peacefully," he added.

The rest of the 72 constituencies will go to polls in the second phase on November 19.