Manipur Assembly Election: Havildar on poll duty found dead

A havildar of 8th Manipur Rifles who was deployed for poll duty was found dead in Pherzawl district early on Monday morning, police said. While it remains unclear how the incident occured, police has registered a case for further inquiry. The body has been airlifted to Imphal.

Polling for 38 seats in Manipur started on Monday, with 27.34 per cent voting recorded until 11 am. Polling was stalled at a polling station in Saitu constituency this morning after a clash broke out between two groups, police said. This is the first of the two-part election in the insurgency-hit state.As many as 173 candidates are in the fray with 12,09,439 voters expected to exercise their franchise. The key candidates whose fates would be decided today include Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who is contesting from Heingang, speaker Y Khemchand Singh from Singjamei, Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh from Uripok and state Congress chief N Lokesh Singh from Nambol.