206 arrested, 87 cases lodged for violence

PESHAWAR: As many as 206 persons were arrested and almost 87 cases were lodged against those resorting to violence during the local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Att least 10 people were killed and a number of others were wounded in the violence in different parts of the province.
However, the arrest of Mian Iftikhar Hussain, central general secretary of the Awami National Party (ANP), in the murder case of a worker of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) triggered widespread criticism. Police officials defended the arrest saying the ANP leader was formally charged by the victim’s family in the murder case. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also took notice of the arrest and many senior political leaders termed it unwarranted.
“As many as 47 people were arrested and 16 cases were lodged in different parts of Peshawar for violence during the local government polls,” Dr Mian Saeed Ahmad, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Peshawar told The News.
Those arrested in Peshawar included workers of various political parties as well as supporters of independent candidates. A newly elected district council member belonging to the PTI was also arrested for allegedly attacking the car of the wife of an ANP leader.
In Bannu division, the police arrested 67 persons for polls-related violence and lodged 16 first information reports (FIRs) against them. Seven FIRs were lodged in Kohat division where 24 people were rounded up. The number of those arrested in Dera Ismail Khan was seven.
“The Charsadda district police arrested 41 persons after lodging 16 cases of polls-related violence. Ten were held in Mardan district and one in Swabi,” officials said. The army had to be called in at a number of places to take control after things went wrong inside or outside the polling stations.
“A total of 197 people were arrested and 35 Kalashnikovs, 46 pistols and 10 rifles were recovered from them,” officials said on Sunday. According to the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), a total of 81 incidents of violence were reported from 19 districts, indicating a highly tense political environment on the polling day.
“The incidents included clashes between supporters of contesting candidates, incidents of aerial firing, brawls among supporters of contesting parties and scuffles between voters and polling/security officials. Violent incidents were also reported from female polling stations,” the FAFEN report added.
The FAFEN observers also reported 19 incidents of polling stations being captured by the supporters of contesting candidates and political parties in nine districts. Around 26 percent of such incidents were reported from Haripur, followed by 16 percent each from Peshawar and Bannu.
Our correspondent in Kohat adds: The police arrested 10 persons, including three candidates for the local government elections, for hooliganism during the local government elections, official sources said on Sunday.
The source said that the police arrested Amin Khan a candidate of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf for tehsil council in Dheri Bhanda, Shah Jehan candidate for General Councillor and another Nasrullah for disrupting polls at the Government Middle School in Dheri Bhanda.
They have been accused of harassing polling staff and beating voters in a bid to stop polling at the polling station. The police also arrested seven other persons for disrupting polls, for breaking ballot boxes and destroying ballot papers.The police sent the accused to jail after they were produced before a local court for securing their remand.