New Delhi: Hours before voting got underway for the first phase of the Lok sabha elections, as many as four Maoists were arrested at Bedre in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur. Three country-made guns were also recovered from them.

Polling in Maoist-affected constituencies will conclude at 4 pm, an hour prior to the scheduled deadline of 5 pm in other states.

Security has been beefed up after an IED blast Wednesday in the Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district, where polling will be held Thursday. A CRPF jawan, who was escorting a polling party, was injured in the blast, police said.

91 constituencies will go to polls in the first phase of polling today, including eight in Uttar Pradesh, five in Uttarakhand, four in Bihar, seven in Maharashtra, five in Assam, four in Odisha, two each in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and West Bengal, and one each in Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

Polling in Bijapur, which falls under Bastar parliamentary constituency, will be held today. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.