LG polls: ‘Abducted’ presiding officer recovered in injured condition

KARACHI: The police have recovered a presiding officer, who was abducted from Karachi’s Baldia Town, in injured condition as polling ended in the second phase of local government (LG) elections in Karachi and Hyderabad, ARY News reported on Sunday.

According to details, a presiding officer of polling station No. 1 of Baldia Town’s UC-13 was allegedly abducted after a clash broke out between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Later, the police recovered the presiding officer – identified as Dr Sami – in injured condition. In a statement, the police said some miscreants wanted to abduct the official, but the forces arrived in time and rescued Dr Sami.

The police said they bought the ‘tense situation’ outside the polling situation under control. In a statement, the presiding officer said that some miscreants abducted and tortured him after “I resisted to rig the election”.

The police said they were examining the statements of the official, vowing to take legal action after identifying the miscreants.

Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Rabistan Khan was detained after a scuffle broke out between workers of his party and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Maymar area.

PPP candidate, named Bilal Rehmani, for Union Council (UC) 12 Chairman – son of MNA Shahida Rehmani – was allegedly beaten.

In a video statement, Hilal Rehmani said that he and his associates were attacked by PTI workers when they reached the polling station. “The PTI workers were beating us despite being stopped by the police,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the counting of votes was underway after polling ended in the second phase of local government (LG) elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the polling started at 8 am and continued till 5 pm without any breaks.

The polling process remained slow, and voters present inside polling stations were allowed to cast their votes beyond the 5pm deadline.

The LG polls are taking place in seven districts of Karachi and nine districts of the Hyderabad division. Strict security measures have been put in place to ensure fair and transparent elections in both divisions.

Nearly 8,000 polling stations declared sensitive

Nearly 8,000 polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’ or ‘highly sensitive’ in 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad.

In Karachi, as many as 3,415 polling stations have been classified as sensitive, 1,496 as highly sensitive and 79 as normal.