Patna:
Around 61 per cent votes were polled on Thursday in the urban bodies elections in Bihar which passed off peacefully barring stray incidents of violence.
The polling for seven municipal corporations, 32 zila parishads and 67 nagar panchayats spread over 36 districts passed off peaceful barring some stray incidents of violence and poll-related offences, State Election Commissioner HC Sirohi told reporters.
The voter turnout was 60.95 per cent, he said.
Purnia recorded the highest voter turn out at 72 per cent and Patna the lowest with 46.5 per cent, he added.
Altogether 11,173 candidates are in the fray for 2,494 wards of municipal corporations, zila parishads and nagar panchayats, he said.
A total of 886 offenders, including seven candidates, were arrested and 521 vehicles and Rs 37,800 in cash were seized, he said.
The SEC (State Election Commission) said that the polling at the ward number two and thirty-three of the Bhagalpur Municipal Corporation was countermanded and re-polling would be held on May 22.
A presiding officer Ajay Prasad was arrested on charges of irregularities at a polling centre in Nalanda district, while Gaya's outgoing deputy mayor Mohan Srivastava was detained at Rampur police station for attempts to influence polling.
Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation's outgoing deputy mayor Nasim Ahmed and his supporters were arrested for damaging EVMs (Electronic voting machines) at several polling stations.
Several people were injured in group clashes in Bhagalpur district over the change in the number of the polling stations at the last minute. District Magistrate N M Lal and Superintendent of Police K S Anupam brought the situation under control.
There were also reports of poll-related violence in Patna and Gaya districts.
The Muzaffarpur police recovered five crude bombs from the Abida high school premises under Mithanpura police station area in Muzaffarpur district, Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar said.
In Jamui, a presiding officer Naresh Kumar, posted at a polling centre under Jhajha nagar panchayat was detained after he was found misbehaving with the voters in an inebritated condition. He was then replaced.
In Nalanda district, a constable Avdesh Kumar, on duty at the polling centre in Imadpur locality of the Biharsharif Municipal Corporation died due to heart attack.