By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 17, 2019: Maoist rebels on Wednesday killed a polling official in Phulbani area of Kandhamal district barely few hours before the second phase of polling in Odisha.

The deceased has been identified as Sanjukta Digal, who was a polling supervisor.

The red rebels fired incessantly at the vehicle carrying four officials who were on their way to the polling station.

Digal had sustained serious injuries in her head in the firing and was rushed to hospital for treatment. However, the doctors declared her brought dead.

Earlier, in the day, the rebel had torched a four-wheeler and a bike heading for election duty in the district. A group of Maoists set the vehicles on fire after dragging the poll officials out of the vehicle.

Kandhamal parliamentary constituency is going to polls in the second phase on April 18. Booths in three assembly segments – Baliguda, Phulbani and G Udayagiri have been identified as sensitive in Kandhamal parliamentary constituency.