Helicopter drops polling party in Chhattisgarh instead of Manika

Latehar: A helicopter of the air force accidentally dropped 18 members of a polling party in Chhattisgarh instead of Mahuadand of Manika Vidhan Sabha area following which panic spread for some time.

However, within an hour the members of the polling party were brought back from the neighbouring state and dropped to their original location.

Latehar DC cum DEO Zeeshan Qamar told that the chopper was of the airforce which accidentally dropped the 18 people who were part of 8 polling parties but within an hour all of them were brought back and dropped to their original location of Chatakpur Mahuadand.

The helicopter had dropped the polling party in an open field in Satipara village of Pratappur Bhainsamunda of Surajpur district.

After the people realised that they had been dropped in the neighbouring state they somehow got in touch with the Surajpur collector who immediately got in touch with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer and detailed the situation and also sent police on the spot for the safety of the polling parties and EVMs.