Bloodshed marred Jharkhand’s Giridih civic polls on Monday after violent skirmishes in Ward 18 led to gunfire, injuring two locals critically. What began as polling disputes devolved into anarchy, with shops wrecked and shots fired in broad daylight.
From the morning hours, rival supporter groups traded blows near voting centers, prompting multiple police interventions. The afternoon brought no respite; in Azad Nagar, a final standoff ignited full-scale rioting.
Chaos gripped the streets as rioters demolished property. Gunshots pierced the turmoil, wounding Mohammed Sheru Ansari fatally in the skull and Mohammed Aslam in his leg. The injured were stabilized locally before a high-speed transfer to SNMMCH Dhanbad.
SDM Shrikant Yashwant Vispute mobilized forces with SDPO Jitwan Urang and Pachamba officers to quell the unrest. Their intervention halted escalation, though questions swirl around intelligence failures.
In the aftermath, political rhetoric intensifies, with each camp decrying the other’s tactics. This brazen attack on democracy demands accountability, as Giridih braces for poll outcomes amid heightened security. Jharkhand’s elections expose deep fractures that no ballot alone can heal.