PESHAWAR – A woman presiding officer in the provincial capital was arrested along with her husband over allegations of rigging, ahead of polling for the ongoing election.
Reports in local media said police apprehended the accused presiding officer of a polling station on Saturday night along with her husband over alleged rigging.
Law enforcers came into action shortly after the Provincial Election Commission removed the presiding officer and all other staff members of a women polling station in the city’s neighborhood council 34, Tehsil Gor Khatri.
ECP officials revealed that the election material issued for that polling station was safe while all members of the polling station had been replaced and the issue was being investigated.
Leaders and workers of a number of political parties protested over reports of ballot papers being stamped in favour of the ruling party candidate while the cops took the accused presiding officer and her husband into custody and shifted them to a police station as the charged mob planned to attack them.
Reports claimed that the polling staff was spotted allegedly stamping on the election symbol for a particular party’s candidate for the slot of the mayor city council. PPP leader Nighat Orakzai speaking to a local news outlet mentioned that PTI workers cast 5,000 fake votes.
At least 12.6 million residents of 17 districts of KP are voting today in the local body elections. The LG elections were due to be held in 2019 after the last local bodies completed their tenure in Aug 2019, but the government failed to hold them.
Voting underway for first phase of local body polls in 17 KP districts
The districts, where elections will be held in the first phase, include Buner, Bajaur, Swabi, Peshawar, Nowshera, Kohat, Karak, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Tank, Haripur, Khyber, Mohmand, Mardan, Charsadda, Hangu, and Lakki Marwat.
Meanwhile, the local body elections are taking place for first time in the Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur districts.
