NA-33 by-polls being held today amid tight security

HANGU: Around 4,500 cops would be deployed during NA-33 Hangu by-election being held today to avert any untoward incident, an official said on Saturday.

Talking to reporters, District Police Officer Hangu Ikramullah said the police and the Election Commission of Pakistan had finalised security arrangements for holding peaceful and transparent by-polls.

He said the police, the Quick Response Force and Rapid Response Force personnel would conduct patrolling on polling day. The official said the Frontier Reserve Police would remain on standby at the police lines to cope with any emergency.

A total of 3.18 million people would exercise their right of franchise in NA-33 Hangu by-election, said the spokesman of Election Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said 210 polling stations, including 55 for women only, had been set up, adding that 91 polling stations would be combined.

The official said that 110 polling stations were sensitive and 77 had been declared highly sensitive, for which adequate security arrangements had been made.

He said that five candidates were contesting the by-election.

The included Saeed Umar of Awami National Party, Obaidullah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Nadeem Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Atiq Ahmed and Muhammad Saeed were running as independents.

A control room has been set up at the office of the Provincial Election Commissioner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to monitor the by-election. In case of any complaint, the public can contact telephone numbers 091-9211034, 091-9222475.

Provincial Election Commissioner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Raziq appealed to voters to exercise their right to vote without any fear. It may be mentioned that NA-33 Hangu fell vacant due to the death of PTI Member National Assembly Khayal Zaman in February.