Mild Tension After MBT and AIMIM Leaders Clash in Yakutpura

HYDERABAD:

South zone police deployed a large contingent of armed forces at different polling centres in the eight constituencies that fall in Old City, and Nampally to ensure smooth polling here on Thursday.

Over 99 teams of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and Rapid Action Forces (RAF) special branch, task force, intelligence and law and order police were deployed additionally in the sensitive areas. South zone has 302 locations and 709 polling stations, of which 150 were declared as sensitive. Over a dozen people were taken into custody for loitering around in various localities.

Yakutpura has many slums spread over Bhavaninagar, Rein Bazaar, Mirchowk, Madannapet Uppuguda and Dabeerpura police station limits.

Mild tension prevailed after Amjed Ullah Khan, MBT contestant for Yakutpura, and AIMIM in-charge Yassar Arafat entered into an argument near a polling centre in Ganganagar. The south zone task force rushed to the scene and took both of them into custody. Police booked a theft case against Khan and a MCC violation case against Arafat.

According to reliable police sources Khan had snatched a voting list printer belonging to the AIMIM at a poll booth in Rein Bazaar and refused to return it while Arafat was moving around with more than five persons in violation of prohibitory orders.

Additional armed forces were deployed in the areas as a precautionary measure, said Sai Chaitanya, DCP south zone.

In a separate incident, there was an argument between supporters of Nampally Congress contestant Feroz Khan and followers of AIMIM contestant Mohammed Majid Khan in AC Guards. However the matter was pacified by their respective senior representatives.

Near some booths, CAPF forces and law and order police were seen guiding voters to their polling booths and dropping some aged voters in their vehicles after they had cast their votes.