DODA, 9 October — Polling in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir ended yesterday with a total of 46 percent of voters exercising their right of franchise.
Coercion and intimidation also marked the day though officials denied such incidents. The assembly elections in Kashmir started on Sept. 16. Voters of six constituencies in Doda and one in Kupwara voted in the fourth and final phase yesterday.
Life in the state was crippled by a general strike called by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Shops in Srinagar and other towns remained closed and traffic was off the roads. People outside Tantraypora in Banihal raised slogans against the security forces saying the soldiers had herded them to the polling station. Reporters witnessed unwilling people being forced to vote.
At Hali Maidan, announcements weremade from mosques asking people to come out for voting.
As a media team was returning from Hali Maidan, the commanding officer of 12 RR tried to arrest them. After an argument, the commanding officer allowed them to proceed.
At 14 polling stations 1,109 votes out of 10,091 had been cast.
A dramatic assault by militants on a heavily guarded polling station in which two policemen were killed rocked the final round voting in Doda district.
Witnesses said two militants disguised as policemen sauntered up to the polling station in Doda town hall soon after polling began at 7:00 a.m. (0130 GMT) and, when challenged, suddenly opened fire and lobbed grenades at a large group of heavily-armed policemen.
Two policemen died in the attack and two were injured, along with a civilian, police said.
After a 25-minute gunfight, in which dozens of police and soldiers blazed away at the escaping militants, one rebel lay dead in the street. The other managed to escape.
Due to the morning chill and the threat of violence, few voters were out but polling picked up as the day progressed. One voter told Arab News, "I have come to vote willingly. We hope life here will improve after the new government takes over." The state police chief said that since the elections were announced 780 persons including 260 civilians, 150 security force personnel and policemen and 370 militants were killed in what he termed "stepped up militant violence."
The Election Commission made special arrangements to prevent disruptions by militants. Results of the poll will be made public tomorrow; vote counting is expected to be over quickly due to the use of electronic voting machines.
The four-phase elections have been under global scrutiny as the Kashmir problem is central to the ongoing military standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan.
