Counting for Sri Lanka's Presidential polls begins

Following the conclusion of peaceful polling through the day, the counting for Sri Lanka's seventh presidential polls began on Thursday evening.

The first postal ballot results are expected in the night, while the overall results will be declared on Friday. The polling ended at 4 pm local time without any untoward incident.

Most parts of the country have recorded over 70 percent polling with Kandy, Galle, Matara and Anuradhapura seeing over 75 percent people exercising their democratic right.

The highest turnouts of 80 per cent have been recorded in opposition leader Maithripala Sirisena's hometown, Polonnaruva, hill district of Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura.

According to the island nation's police, 405 complaints were received, which is half the number reported in 2010 elections. Mr Rohana informed the media that 175 arrests have been made through the day. He said two incidents of grenade explosions were recorded, but no one was injured in any of them.

According to reports, election monitors from India and other SAARC and Commonwealth nations have also expressed satisfaction at the conduct of polls. Over 20,000 domestic monitors manned each and every one of the 12,000 polling stations. Domestic observers have also reported a marked decline in poll violations compared to earlier elections.

Special security arrangements have reportedly been put in place in Colombo, with the police confirming that the island nation's capital's security has been beefed up for an unspecified period following the declaration of results.

Additional security personnel have also been deployed at President Mahinda Rajapaksa's official residence.