Ranchi, Dec. 13: Maoists triggered a landmine on a police patrol in Lohardaga this morning, on the eve of the Assembly by-election, and left a villager fatally injured.

It is not immediately clear if the victim, identified as Dinesh Oraon (33) of Onegeda village, was a CPI(Maoist) aide or a sympathiser of the banned outfit. He was airlifted from the blast site in Bagra thana area, 35km from the district headquarters, to a private hospital in Ranchi, but did not survive the 20-minutejourney.

Lohardaga SP Kartik S. said a police team was conducting a routine sanitisation drive around 8am in different parts of Peshrar block when they chanced upon Maoist banners in Bagra, 100km from capital Ranchi.

"The men got off their jeep and were inspecting the area on foot when there was a deafening explosion only yards away. A man sitting under a tree near one of the banners was critically injured. He was airlifted to Medanta in Ranchi, but succumbed to his injuries on the way," the SP said.

Kartik added that they were trying to ascertain if the deceased was a Maoist or a sympathiser. "Apart from intensifying search operations in the area, we are poring over antecedents of the person who was killed. It is too early to jump into conclusions. But, it cannot be ruled out that he was there keeping watch on police movements."

The SP underscored that besides "area domination exercises" like the one in Peshrar, adequate preventive measures had been taken to ensure a peaceful bypoll tomorrow. "Security forces, including CRPF personnel, have been deployed at strategic locations," he maintained.

While the Assembly by-election is scheduled tomorrow, panchayat polls were held in Peshrar and adjoining Kisko blocks of Lohardaga in the first phase on November 22. They were peaceful. Yesterday, rural elections were once again held peacefully in Kairo, Lohardaga and Bhandra blocks. The turnout exceeded 75 per cent in this last phase.

The Lohardaga Assembly seat had witnessed keen contests during the Assembly polls in 2009 and 2014. In 2009, Kamal Kishore Bhagat of Ajsu Party had defeated Sukhdeo Bhagat of Congress by a margin of 606 votes. In 2014 again, Kamal Kishore won against Sukhdeo by a margin of 592 votes.

The Assembly seat fell vacant on June 22 this year, after Kamal Kishore was convicted in a 22-year-old criminal case. Ajsu Party has now fielded his wife Neeru Shanti, a former nurse at RIMS, from the seat. The couple had tied the knot this October 4.

Lohardaga votes in Assembly bypoll today