In an interesting twist to tale after the Nagaland Assembly by-election candidate of the National People’s Party (NPP) went missing, the police have said the NPP leader Tinujungshi Longkumer is ‘safe and sound’.
Also read: NPP candidate for Nagaland by-polls ‘goes missing’
Mokokchung district police chief Raguramarajan said the police team has met the missing candidate.
“He (Longkumer) has clarified to the police team that he was not abducted. He is safe and sound,” the police official said.
Earlier on Wednesday, an NPP official had said Longkumer, the party’s candidate for Aonglenden Assembly seat by-election, had gone missing.
“Our candidate (Longkumer) who is contesting the by-election from Aonglenden Assembly constituency has been missing since Tuesday. His mobile phones are switched off and his family members are unaware of his whereabouts,” state’s NPP president Ato Yephtomi told the media.
“The party has lodged a missing compliant with the police. We are hopeful that he returns home unharmed,” the party official further added.
Other candidates contesting the by-election include Sharingain Longkumer of the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), Toshipokba Longkumer of the Naga People’s Front and Alemjongshi Longkumer of the Congress.
The by-election to the Aonglenden Assembly and the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland will be held in the first phase on April 11.
The by-election was necessitated due to death of NDPP legislator Imtikumzuk in September 2018.