A corporator was allegedly killed during a clash between the BJP and Congress supporters in the early hours of Friday ahead of voting in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, said police on Friday.
The deceased, identified as Salman Khan, a resident of Manzoor Nagar village of Khajuraho, was run over by vehicles purportedly associated with BJP candidate Arvind Pateria and his supporters. At the time of incident, the victim was accompanied by Congress candidate from Chhatarpur seat, Vikram Singh Natiraja.
As per a report, the incident took place in the Rajnagar Assembly constituency around 2 a.m.
As per the police, initial investigation revealed a confrontation between two groups that started after a dispute over giving passage during their respective campaigns.
The verbal altercation between the supporters of Congress candidate Natiraja and those allied with BJP candidate Arvind Pateria took a violent turn when one group allegedly used multiple vehicles to run over the Congress worker, resulting in his death.
Allegations have surfaced that the assailants specifically targeted Natiraja and Khan, initiating an attack by deliberately ramming a vehicle into them and subsequently firing gunshots in air. This assault not only claimed the life of Salman Khan but also left Congress candidate Vikram Singh Natiraja traumatised.
Similarly, a man was injured in a gun firing at a polling booth in Dhimni Assembly seat of Morena district while the polling was underway on Friday morning. Union Minister Narnedra Singh Tomar is contesting the election from Dhimni against Congress’ Ravindra Tomar.
In another incident in Harda district, a person reportedly died of electrocution at a polling booth. While in Indore’s Mhow Assembly seat, BJP workers attacked Congress supporters with swords.
Similarly, in Chhindwara, the BJP workers created a ruckus when MPCC president Kamal Nath’s son and Chhindwara MP Nakul Nath went for an inspection at a polling booth on Friday. The BJP workers allegedly tried to stop Nakul Nath from entering the polling booth, however, the situation was normalised with intervention of security forces deployed at the polling booth.