Nepal polls register turnout of nearly 70 percent

People voted amidst tight security, with 200,000 security personnel, including 60,000 soldiers, deployed across the country. The voting began at 7 am in almost all the 18,438 polling centres and concluded at 5 pm.

EC spokesman Bir Bahadur Rai said polls passed off peacefully in most areas barring a few incidents of vandalism, explosions, booth capturing and clashes.

About a dozen people were injured in these incidents, including three children wounded by a blast near a polling booth in Bhotebahal area of Kathmandu.

Unified CPN-Maoist cadres captured polling booths in Gorkha district and polls were disrupted briefly by clashes in Jumla and Dailekh districts, the EC said.