12,600 'sensitive' booths in MP

Most of these are in areas dominated by Maoist guerrillas or infested by bandits, the officials said.

Around one-third of all polling booths in Madhya Pradesh have been declared sensitive, according to officials in Bhopal.

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Of the 41, 400 polling booths that will be set up before the Assembly elections on December 1, 12,600 have been declared sensitive.

Most of these are in areas dominated by Maoist guerrillas or infested by bandits, the officials said.

The three districts affected by Maoist violence are Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori. The bandit belt includes Gwalior, Bhind, Morena and Shivpuri.

The state election commission had earlier sought nearly 30,000 paramilitary personnel from the central government to conduct the elections smoothly. These paramilitary personnel have started arriving in the state.

"Seeing the situation, we will demand more police personnel from the centre," said a senior police official.