PTI's Barrister Sultan Mehmood declared winner of Mirpur by-election

MIRPUR: According to unofficial results on Sunday night, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Barrister Sultan Mehmood was declared winner of the Mirpur by-election held today.

According to sources, Mehmood secured 15,691 votes.

Earlier today, polling concluded for the by-election on the LA-III seat of the lakeside city of Mirpur the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) legislative assembly.

Polling started at 8 am and continued uninterrupted at the 115 polling stations until 5 pm to allow 68,815 registered voters to exercise their right to elect a representative.

Over three thousand police personnel had been deployed for security during the elections, with 81 polling stations declared sensitive.

The contesting candidates included the Pakistan People Party's (PPP) Chaudhary Mohammad Ashraf, Barrister Sultan Mehmood of the PTI, Engineer Nauman Akram of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Nishat Kazmi of the Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party, and independent candidate Aijaz Raza.

Arshad Mehmood Ghazi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had earlier withdrawn his candidature in favour of the PPP candidate.

The seat was vacated after former AJK prime minister and PPP leader Barrister Sultan Mehmood resigned to join the PTI.