Barring a couple of unlawful events, the voting, which began on Monday across 48 urban local bodies, was peaceful in Jharkhand, with strict security measures in place.

In Dhanbad ward 22, villagers of Susnilewa thrashed local leaders. In Giridih, there were reports of inter- group clashes and stone pelting.

Elsewhere, in Ranchi, voting continued in all wards peacefully. In fact,43 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots in elections that will decide the leadership of the municipalities, officials said.

Polling started at 7 am and will continue until 5 pm at a total of 4,307 booths set up across the state. Of these, 896 booths have been marked as hyper-sensitive, while 2,445 have been designated as sensitive, authorities added.

The elections are underway for the posts of mayors and chairpersons in 48 ULBs, and councillors in 1,042 wards across nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads and 19 nagar panchayats," State Election Commission (SEC) secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said.

A total of 6,124 candidates are contesting the elections. For the posts of mayor and chairperson, 562 candidates, including 235 women, are in the fray.

Meanwhile, 5,562 candidates, including 2,727 women, are competing for ward councillor positions.

Election officials assured voters that adequate security arrangements had been made at all polling stations to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections.

The election campaigning concluded on Saturday evening, a State Election Commission official said. The counting of votes will take place on February 27. SEC Secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said that the 48-hour 'silence period' started from 5 pm on Saturday, during which all forms of campaigning were banned.

"Under the rules, no person shall call, organise, or attend any public meeting for a period of 48 hours before the time fixed for the close of poll. This provision came into effect at 5 pm today," Prasad said.