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| August 25, 2005 | Thursday | Rajab 19, 1426 |
1,000 polling stations declared sensitive: Second phase of LB election today
HYDERABAD, Aug 24: More than 1,000 polling stations have been declared sensitive in the districts of Hyderabad, Badin, Dadu, Jamshoro, Tando Mohammad Khan and Matiari and army troops started patrolling these cities on Wednesday evening.
The taluka city of Hyderabad district, Thana Bula Khan taluka in Jamshoro, and Mehar and Johi in Dadu district are considered sensitive areas given the expected close contests there.
Police sources confirmed that over 1,000 polling stations out of a total 1,500 had been placed in category ‘A’ which stood for sensitive.
Meanwhile, foreign observers started arriving in the city to monitor the polling process in Hyderabad and its newly-created districts.
Mr Hitoshi Neki, deputy consul-general of Japan, and M.S. Adora Ikenze of United Kingdom have arrived and others scheduled to reach Hyderabad included Divyal Swamy, second secretary USA, Rekha M. Stem, Fredric W. Stern, Connie O. Anderson, Robert A. Peter, and M.S. Alison Sutheriand.
A police source said that British deputy high commissioner Hamish Daniel had here left for the Sukkur district.
HARDSHIP: Commuters faced inconvenience as private cab-owners fleeced them in absence of public transport after police impounded vehicles for the polling duty on Tuesday.
A large number of buses, coaches and other transport plying between Hyderabad, Badin, Nawabshah, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Digri, Thatta and Mithi were impounded by police. The transporters who escaped the police also kept their vehicles off the road fearing these too would be impounded.
Commuters, including women, who travel to neighbouring districts for work were seen stranded on different bus-stands in the city as no van or coach was available.
Private cab-owners exploited the situation and charged exorbitant fares.
CLAIM: An independent candidate for naib nazim UC-6 Latifabad, Saeeduddin, on Wednesday alleged that his election office in unit no-10 had been torched by activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement after he refused to retire from the contest.
The SHO of the B-section police station, Tariq Khanzada, denied the incident.
The candidate said that MQM activists Raheel Raju, Amir Afridi, Imran Afzal, Safdar Ansari, Imran Siraj and others had burnt his office.
He also accused the MQM workers of pressurising councillors of his panel, Nasir, Shakir and Aslam Khanzada.
Meanwhile, former Taluka Nazim city Haji Moinuddin Sheikh on Wednesday claimed that his election rally had been was attacked by unknown assailants, causing injuries to five persons.
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