1st electoral roll entries made in once Maoist hotbed Abujhmad

ABUJHMAD IN CHHATTISGARH WAS LIBERATED FROM MAOIST CONTROL EARLIER THIS YEAR

- S Kareemuddin and Ritesh Mishra

BASTAR: For the first time, Ashok Kumar Usendi, posted as a booth level officer (BLO), entered deep inside the dense forests of Orchha in Abujhmad, which earlier this year was liberated from the Maoist control by security forces.

Usendi, along with a volunteer, crossed rivers and mountains in a 12-km trek on foot to reach Hittawama village in about five hours. He had gone there to enrol 21 voters of Dan-dami Madai tribe, who would be finding their names in the country’s electoral roll for the first time, under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted by the Election Commission.