Nine armed men arrested: CEC claims free, fair environment
TLTP
LAHORE
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) On Saturday issued show-cause notices to Special Assistant to Punjab CM Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Zeeshan Rafiq and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Senior Vice President Chaudhry Saleem over the violation of the election code of conduct during NA-75 Daska by-poll.
All the three have been asked to submit their response within 48 hours.
According to the ECP, Dr Firdous in her press conference on Friday last violated the ECP’s code of conduct by announcing a development package, worth Rs500 million, for the constituency. Chaudhry Saleem visited the constituency on April 9 (Friday) and violated the code of conduct.
The notice was issued to the PML-N legislator for visiting the NA-75 Daska constituency during the by-election on Saturday when the election commission barred all lawmakers to pay a visit during the voting process.
It was learnt that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers stopped Zeeshan Rafiq when he arrived in the constituency. The PTI workers told him that he could not visit the constituency as he is a lawmaker. Police officials who were performing security duties on the scene directed Rafiq to leave the premises of the constituency.
Meanwhile, police on Saturday claimed to have arrested nine armed men associated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) near the polling station during the by-election in NA-75 Daska.
The armed men were taken into custody by police over violation of Section 144 in Aguchak area of Daska, slapped by the district administration to ensure law and order during the by-poll. Police said that Kalashnikovs, two pistols, a rifle were recovered from the arrested persons while two vehicles of the accused were also seized by the police.
The provincial election commissioner has confirmed the arrests for displaying arms and said that all the accused were arrested on a complaint. DSP Pindi Bhattian is interrogating the matter.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Saturday said that a free and fair environment has been provided for a transparent election in the NA-75, Daska, constituency.
Talking to a private news channel about the by-polls in Daska, Sialkot, on Saturday, the CEC said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has provided a free and fair environment in the constituency for an unbiased and transparent election. He asked the voters to come out and cast their vote without any fear.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has established monitoring cells that would be working 24/7, he said. He also asked to report any untoward incident to the control room.
He directed the presiding officers to provide the copies of Form 45 after getting their signatures, while the POs should send the copies of the forms to the returning officer on WhatsApp. He said that ballot papers and other polling material will be transported to the RO’s office under the supervision of Rangers and police.
More than 4,000 police officers and 1,048 Rangers personnel have been deployed in the area, while 10 teams of the Pakistan Army’s Quick Response Force will also be available to assist the local administration in maintaining the law and order situation.
