An estimated 14 per cent voters exercised their franchise till 10 AM in four Lok Sabha seats of Jharkhand where Maoists exploded a series of landmines before polling began.

Barring an incident of a voter attacking a polling official with a knife in Lohardaga, polling in Palamau (SC), Chatra, Koderma and Lohardaga (ST) seats is going on peacefully, police said.

Hours before polling, Maoists exploded a series of landmines near a police picket in Latehar under Chatra constituency, and a brief gunbattle followed, Latehar SP Michael Raj said.

There was no casualty on any side, he said.

In Gumla, which comes under Lohardaga constituency, a constable of India Reserve Battalion Bikash Tiwari allegedly shot dead three of his colleagues in Gurdari area last night, Superintendent of Police Bhimsen Tuti said.

Later, Palamau SP Y S Ramesh said Tiwari surrendered in Medininagar police station with his weapon.

Polling had begun today for four of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Jharkhand amidst tight security. Polling is being held in Palamau (SC), Chatra, Koderma and Lohardaga (ST) and will end at 4 pm.

A total 62 candidates are in the fray today. Prominent among them are BJP candidate former Jharkhand police chief Vishnu Dayal Ram, RJD’s Manoj Kumar and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha’s Ghuran Ram.

Trinamool Congress is making its debut with former Maoist Baitha contesting as its nominee from the Palamau seat where the Congress has won six times.

Other candidates are former union minister and Congress candidate Rameshwar Oraon, sitting BJP MP Sudarshan Bhagat, BJP’s state unit chief Ravindra Kumar Ray and former Congress MP Tilakdhari Singh.

A total of 56,47,736 voters including 29,98,487 men and 26,49,246 women are eligible to exercise their franchise.

Polling for the remaining 10 Lok Sabha seats will be held on April 17 and 24.

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