Amidst violence let loose by Maoists, Jharkhand recorded only around 28.5% voting till 1:00 pm in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections today.
Not many voters were seen at many polling booths in the naxal infested rural areas of Chatra,Palamau,Khunti,Lohardaga, Hazaribag and Koderma LokSabha constituencies.
Nine persons were killed and six others injured when Maoists attacked a CRPF bus in Latehar, about 125 km from Ranchi, barely half an hour after polling began.Seven BSF personnel and the helper and driver of the bus ferrying them from Ladhup to Arah were blown up by a landmine blast triggered by the Maoists at around 7.30 am.