Up to 72pc polling stations in KP declared sensitive

PESHAWAR: Over 88 per cent polling stations to be set up in Peshawar and 72 per cent in the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the upcoming general elections have been declared either sensitive or most sensitive due to law and order situation and other challenges.

Out of 15,737 polling stations to be established for polls across KP, only 43,44, less than 28 per cent, have been declared normal.

On the other hand, 4,812 polling stations have been termed most sensitive while 6,581 declared sensitive for the polls.

“In Peshawar, around 1,280 polling stations are to be set up for the February 8 general elections. Out of these, 630 have been declared sensitive and around 500 most sensitive while 150 will be normal,” an official of the Peshawar Police said.

Out of these, 695 will be for men, 543 for women while 42 will be set up jointly for male and female voters.

According to Capital City Police Officer Ashfaq Anwar, over 12,000 policemen, supported by the platoons of Frontier Constabulary, will be deployed for security during the elections in Peshawar.

The capital city is among the districts that were declared sensitive for the polls. Many southern districts have been declared sensitive as well due to frequent attacks and threats.

In KP, elections would be held for 45 general seats of the National Assembly and 115 general seats of the provincial assembly in the province. As per the security plan, 11 security personnel would be deployed at most sensitive polling stations in the southern belt and merged districts of the province.

In other parts of KP, seven security personnel would be deployed at every most sensitive polling station.

In southern and merged districts, seven security personnel would be deployed at each of the sensitive polling stations and four security personnel at each of the normal polling stations. In the rest of the KP, five security personnel will perform duty at each sensitive and four at each normal polling station.

The KP Police last month said it lacks 34,000 personnel for the polls duty. As per the officials, 26,213 additional security personnel have been arranged so far from different provincial departments.

The Frontier Constabulary is likely to provide around 125 platoons to KP Police and around 50 platoons to Islamabad and Karachi police for the upcoming polls.

A Command and Control Centre has been established at the Home Department while a district-wise contingency plan has been prepared by the police for the polls.

Security situations would be observed through CCTV cameras in many areas, while in some places drones will be used to monitor the situation.