A survey by the West Midnapore administration has found that over two lakh voters, three fourths of them in Maoist-affected areas, are afraid of voting. District officials said the survey of nearly five lakh people to identify “vulnerable voters” had been carried out following instructions from the Election Commission. “As West Midnapore has the largest Maoist-affected area in the state, the commission had asked us to find out about the fear factor...

Three women assaulted, three men killed, hundreds rendered homeless in course of five-day operation The operation began in the early hours of March 11 when about 350 heavily armed troopers marched into the forests of Dantewada. They returned to their barracks five days later, with three villages aflame, about 300 homes and granaries incinerated, three villagers and three security personnel dead, and three women sexually assaulted, the victims and several...

People's Union for Civil Liberties leader and paediatrician Binayak Sen on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in a Maoist-linked sedition case, in which he has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Sen's petition challenges a February 10 decision of the Chhattisgarh High Court refusing bail during the pendency of his appeal against conviction and sentence. A Raipur additional district and sessions court had on December 24 convicted Sen and Kolkata businessman...

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday repeated the demand for the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum allocation scam, saying that the issue needed to be investigated on a canvas larger than the Comptroller and Auditor General's “limited” inquiry. Considering the gravity of the irregularities, a “wider and comprehensive” probe was required into the 2G spectrum allocation, Mr. Karat...

Foreign observers will keep a close watch on the Chhattisgarh High Court's hearing on rights activist Binayak Sen's appeal on Monday. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has forwarded to the Chhatisgarh government a request from an eight-member European Union (EU) delegation keen to watch the proceedings in the HC in Bilaspur on January 24. Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh has forwarded the Centre's request to the HC, leaving it to the judiciary...