LAHORE, April 30: Except for some minor clashes, no untoward incident was reported during the referendum polling in the city on Tuesday.

Reports pouring in from the other parts of the Punjab suggested no law and order problem except for minor clashes and heated arguments over petty issues.

Leaders and workers of political parties, other groups and individuals suspected to be irritants to create a law and order problem had already been picked up by the Punjab police in a crackdown late on Monday night. They, according to a top-ranking Punjab police officer, were taken into custody on intelligence. Most of them, including over two dozens held from Lahore, belonged to opposition parties.

Police raids continued till early Tuesday morning. The police left warnings at the houses of those who went underground ahead of raids. However, nobody from the opposition parties was seen campaigning against the referendum or obstructing the poll process.

One clash was reported at a polling station in a school on Walton Road. Three people sustained minor injuries who were taken into custody. However, they were set free after a patch-up. Two minor clashes were reported from Gulshan Ravi and Sabzazar.

Meanwhile, tight security arrangements had been made to thwart any threat to law and order during the polling. Armed policemen had been deployed in and around all the polling stations since early in the morning. Special mobile squads involving men from the Punjab Constabulary and Elite Force patrolled the city roads.

The police also escorted the polling staff and their vehicles carrying the polling material like ballot boxes, ballot papers and stamps to the polling stations in the morning.