One election candidate for Constituent Assembly (CA) elections was killed and several party cadres went missing or injured in poll-related clashes in various parts of Nepal Tuesday night.

Rishi Sharma, a Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) candidate for the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections was killed by unidentified person Tuesday night, Nepali police told Xinhua.

According to the Armed Police Force (APF), Sharma succumbed to injuries on his way to hospital after the clash occurred with rival parties. But the APF's officer could not confirm which parties were involved in the clash.

However, local leading news website THT Online reported that Sharma was fired by an unidentified person at 10:00 p.m. (1615 GMT).

Sharma was a CPN-UML candidate in Constituency No. 1 of Surkhet district, some 375 km southwest of the capital Kathmandu. CPN-UML is the third largest party in the Nepali Interim Parliament.

The Constituent Assembly elections slated for April 10 is to decide the future political setup and the fate of the monarchy of this country.

Despite the Home Ministry's claim regarding the security situation for the CA polls, reports of clashes between political parties are coming from different parts of the country.

The police sources in Kathmandu told Xinhua that at least half-a-dozen party cadres are missing after a clash between the supporters of the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist) (CPN-M) in Dang district, some 280 km southwest of Kathmandu on Tuesday evening.

"Although the exact number of missing persons are yet to be confirmed, the NC party candidate Khum Bahadur Khadka is now in contact with us," the police said.

Similarly, Munal Lama, 32, a CPN-UML cadre was airlifted to Kathmandu for the treatment after sustaining injury in a poll-related clash in Sindhuli district, some 80 km east of Kathmandu.

"Lama was seriously injured after Puspa Shrestha stabbed him at around 4:00 p.m. (1015 GMT) and was brought to Kathmandu in a helicopter," the police added.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2008)