Around 30 per cent voting in Mumbai till 1500 hrs

Mumbai, Feb 1: Around 30 per cent of the total 83.88 lakh electorate here exercised their franchise for the fiercely fought civic polls till 1500 hrs which are being held peacefully allover the city barring a few sporadic incidents.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Dattatraya Karale said a few complaints of bogus voting were received from different party workers in Antop Hill area in south central Mumbai. They were being verified but nothing was found so far.

Incidents of clashes between Raj Thackeray led MNS and Shiv Sena were reported from Lalbaug in central Mumbai and Maharashtra Nagar in the western suburbs. However, police denied the incidents.

Similarly in the eastern suburb of Chembur, a face- off between the supporters of Congress and RPI resulted in tension for some time.

Meanwhile, an assistant polling officer died late last night due to a massive heart attack at her residence here.

Confirming the news, BMC spokeperson Dadasaheb Shivjatak said that Ms Rajashree S Bhandarkar, an assistant teacher of a municipal school was recruited as assistant polling officer for today's election.

He denied reports that she had died while on polling duty and added that she died due to a massive cardic arrest at home last night.

In the nearby Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation, polling had to be stopped for 30 minutes in a ward and 15 persons were arrested for attempting to capture a booth.

UNI