Violence erupts during Pak by-poll

One person was shot dead and at least 10 were injured in Karachi during the NA-240 (Korangi Karachi II) by-election.

Some of the injured were identified as 18-year-old Waleed Qudrutullah with bullet injuries on his knee, Mohammed Idrees, 30, Khalid Chohan, 42, Salman Aslam, 35, Zeeshan Waris, 34, Aslam Ali, 35 and Nabeel Habib, 38, who suffered injuries on their head and other areas caused by hard and blunt instruments, reported Dawn.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed confirmed to Dawn.com that the casualties were brought to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre from the Landhi area.

She said Saifuddin Kaleem was brought dead to JPMC and had suffered bullet injuries on his head.

The Edhi Foundation reported that during violence and firing in Landhi-6, an ambulance of the foundation, that was on duty to rescue the injured, was fired upon but all staff were safe and continuing their activities.

An on-duty Edhi worker told Dawn News that he had been alerted about three to four injured people and went to rescue them when two unidentified individuals on a motorcycle asked him where he was going.

“I said I was going to pick up the injured and then he took out a pistol and fired. I don’t know where the bullets hit but by the time I reached, [the injured] had been shifted by an Edhi ambulance,” he said.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja too took a “serious notice” of the various incidents that happened in today’s by-election. In a message, he directed Sindh’s provincial election commissioner to ensure strict action across the board against the culprits such as the registration of a first information report.

Over half a million registered voters of NA-240 were expected to exercise their democratic and constitutional rights in the by-election today, wherein among 25 contesting candidates the main fight was expected between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

The by-polls in the National Assembly constituency, which had fallen vacant after the death of MQM-P MNA Iqbal Muhammad Ali in April, managed to attract the interest of political parties, but it couldn’t create much electioneering during the campaigns compared to past trends, reported Dawn.

The total population of the constituency, as counted in the 2017 census, stands at 853,973 while the registered voters in NA-240 are 529,855, including 294,385 male and 235,470 female voters, reported Dawn.

A total of 309 polling stations and 1,236 polling booths were set up for elections in the constituency. The Election Commission and security administration had declared 203 polling stations highly sensitive and 106 as sensitive.

Hours before the polling on Wednesday, the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) announced to withdraw from the process in favour of the PPP, reported Dawn.