Ranchi, Dec 23: Counting of votes for 81 Assembly constituencies in Jharkhand began at 8 am on Monday, Election Commission officials said.

The election was held in five phases between November 30 and December 20.

Among the prominent candidates are Chief Minister Raghubar Das from Jamshedpur East, the chief ministerial candidate of the opposition JMM, Congress, RJD alliance Hemant Soren from Dumka and Barhait and former chief minister Babulal Marandi, also the president of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), from Dhanwar.

Counting began at 8 am in all the district headquarters, the officials said.

Postal ballots will be taken up first and votes polled in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) will begin at 8.30 am, they said.

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Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.

The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.

Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.

The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.

Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.

The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.