Twenty-two persons were injured in separate incidents of violence that marred the first phase of panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh. Violence was reported from Gonda, Ferozabad, Agra and Balrampur districts.
According to official sources, polling in Gonda had to be deferred following the death of a candidate, Virendra Shukla. He had been ailing since the past few months. In another polling station, ballot boxes were thrown into a pond and polling remained disrupted.
In Balrampur, a group clash at a polling centre left six persons seriously injured.
In Ferozabad, five persons were injured when the supporters of a candidate in Jamganj under Kamalganj block opened fire. The injured have been admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.
Two other persons were injured in a shootout in Naglamachan block in Jasrana. One of the injured persons has been admitted to a local hospital in a critical condition.
Three other persons were injured in stone pelting between two contestants in Bastigari block. One person was stabbed with a knife at the Raiya polling centre.
One constable and four others were injured in a group clash in Nayapura polling centre in Fatehabad area of Agra.
A police jeep was torched by an irate mob in Allahabad on Monday when the police tried to intervene in a group clash whereas a gram pradhan candidate was arrested in Jhansi when he tried to run away with a ballot box.