Colombo (PTI): Sri Lanka's restive eastern district of Batticaloa went to local body polls for the first time in 14 years, with some 50 per cent of the electorate casting the ballot in the exercise that passed off peacefully.

Polling started on a slow pace in the morning but picked up during the day, officials said. Though an unconfirmed report said there was some minor incidents of violence in the sensitive Valachenai area, the Election Commission denied it.

Elections were being held for nine local bodies, including the Batticaloa Municipal Council.

The polls come almost eight months after the security forces wrested control of the entire eastern region from the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Though polls were held for three councils in Batticaloa district in 2006, this was the first major exercise in 14 years.

The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), a breakaway group whose defection helped the government push the LTTE from the region, and the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance are fighting the elections jointly.

The opposition United National Party (UNP) and the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have decided not to contest, citing security and other concerns. Smaller Tamil parties and independent groups are also in the fray.

Just an hour before the polling commenced, a bomb explosion killed one person and injured six others in Sri Lanka's capital city of Colombo.