Terrorism in by-polls on NA seats can’t be ruled out: IG KP

ISLAMABAD: The Inspector General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (IG KP) Moazzam Jah Ansari said on Tuesday that terrorism in by-polls on the National Assembly (NA) seats cannot be ruled out, ARY News reported.

The IG KP Moazzam Jah Ansari expressed the fear of terrorist attacks during the upcoming by-polls in the province. He apprised the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) about the suspicions of terrorism during the by-polls.

During a briefing, the IG KP said the police department is facing a shortage of 57,000 cops for security duties during by-elections.

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He added that 494 terrorist attacks were carried out on KP police in 2022 and 46 in 2023. In 2022, 119 cops were martyred and 93 policemen were martyred in 2023.

According to the declaration, the chief election commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired a high-level session ahead of the by-polls. The session was attended by the KP chief secretary, inspector general (IG), ECP secretary and senior officers.

The CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja said that the deputation of impartial officers are necessary for the upcoming elections. He ordered the deputation of impartial officers to administrative posts.

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Raja also ordered taking action against the appointment of returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) who are associated with any political party.

The chief election commissioner directed the IG KP to complete work for the deployment of the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps (FC). He added that the commission is in contact with the interior and defence ministries for military deployment.

Moreover, the election commission sought additional funds from the federal government to organise polls.

Ansari detailed that the department can overcome the shortage by getting additional contingents from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) police, Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps (FC).

Earlier in the month, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the schedule for by-elections on 31 vacant seats of the National Assembly (NA).

According to a notification issued by the ECP, the party candidates are asked to submit nomination papers from February 10 to 14, meanwhile, the initial list of the nominated candidates will be displayed on February 15.

The electoral watchdog will scrutinise the candidates who filed the nomination papers on February 18, meanwhile, the election symbols will be allotted to candidates on March 2.