Turnout in polling for 29 Lok Sabha seats in five eastern states ranged from a high 29 per cent in West Bengal to the lowest of 8.53 per cent in Manipur in the first few hours, even as Maoists blew up railway lines and injured a CRPF man in Jharkhand, in the fifth phase of of the elections today.
In Odisha, polling was also being held in 77 Assembly seats, besides 11 parliamentary constituencies.
Election office sources said that the percentage of voting in West Bengal was 29, Odisha 15, Bihar 14, Jharkhand 12.74 and lowest of 8.53 per cent in Manipur.
Odisha accounted for the highest number of 11 parliamentary seats, besides 77 Assembly seats.
Polling was being held for seven LS seats in Bihar, six in Jharkhand, four in West Bengal and one in Manipur.
In Jharkhand, a CRPF man was injured in an encounter with Maoists near Tulbul village, CRPF (26th Battalion) Commandant Sanjay Kumar said.
Maoists also blew up railway lines in Bokaro district, which falls under Giridh Lok Sabha constituency, disrupting train services.
A pressure cooker bomb was recovered near a polling booth in Maoist-hit Saranda forest, an hour before polling began in Singhbhum (reserved) constituency.
A Presiding Officer Bamia Soren was arrested for influencing people to vote for Independent nominee Geeta Koda, the wife of sitting MP and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, Returning Officer of West Singhbhum, Abu Waqar Siddqui P said.