Sudhir Mahto, the JMM’s sitting MLA from Ichagarh, performs puja in Joyda near Chandil on Saturday

Jamshedpur, Dec. 12: Barring a skirmish between JMM and JVM supporters at Kapali, polling in Ichagarh Assembly constituency passed off peacefully today.

The Kurmi (Mahto)-dominated constituency registered a handsome turnout of 60 per cent with voters ignoring poll boycott calls by the Maoists.

In fact, the turnout in Naxalite-affected blocks of Chandil and Nimdih was as high as 80 per cent in some booths. Men and women came out in good numbers to exercise their franchise in Kadjor, Makulakocha, Chaliama, Bareda and Chilla under these two blocks of Ichagarh.

Seraikela-Kharsawan deputy commissioner Rajesh Kumar Sharma told The Telegraph that polling in Ichagarh was incident-free. “Final count has not reached us as yet. But figures available peg polling at 60 per cent. It is going to increase to about 65 per cent,” he said, adding that the figure was higher than the turnout of 57 per cent recorded during the last Lok Sabha polls.

The pace was set from early morning itself. Long queues of voters could be seen in most of the 285 booths spread across four blocks of the constituency. Even remote areas like Chawlibasa saw people casting their votes as early as 7.15am.

While polling was about 42 per cent till 2pm, it shot up to more than 80 per cent by the time voting stopped.

The Seraikela-Kharsawan district administration had made elaborate security arrangements throughout the constituency. Forty-six companies of CRPF and paramilitary forces were deployed at strategic locations, especially Naxalite-hit zones. District police and Jharkhand Armed Force jawans were on duty elsewhere in the constituency. The armed forces also conducted aerial survey of the constituency.

In Kapali, police had to intervene to calm tempers of JMM and JVM supporters at booth numbers 269 and 270 at the Polytechnic College.