Kolkata: West Bengal's panchayat elections which turned violent on May 11 claimed 15 lives leaving another 25 injured while police opened 27 rounds of fire in four districts to prevent snatching of ballots and attempts to create disturbances.

Over 70 per cent voters cast their ballots for the election to over 58,357 seats in the three-tier panchayat. The state Election Commissioner Ajay Sinha ordered repoll in 81 booths spread over 14 districts.

South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad districts witnessed maximum violence where 10 people were killed in poll clashes and bomb explosion.

IG (Law and Order) Chayan Mukherjee said that those killed included six Communist Party Of India- Marxist (CPM), two Socialist Union Centre of India (SUCI), two Congress, one Democratic Youth Federation Of India (DYFI) and the father of a Trinamool Congress. Three others were killed in bomb explosions in Murshidabad.

The IGP said the police fired 27 rounds at five places in Howrah, Murshidabad, Hooghly, Malda and Burdwan to disperse warring groups and to prevent attempts to create disturbances during polling. There was no casualty in the firing.

Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee who put the death toll at 11 claimed that elections in the state was "free and basically peaceful" despite poll-related clashes.

He said that polling had to be suspended at 18 places on account of disturbances, while it could not be held at all in eight other places owing to technical reasons,

He added aid that it was upto the state Election Commission to decide on repolling there.

PTI