KARACHI, Feb 12: The Sindh government has requisitioned some four helicopters to ferry army troops and Rangers to trouble spots and will hire for four days the services of 15,000 volunteers to ensure peaceful elections on Feb 18, a press conference was told on Tuesday.

“Troops deployment will be visible from Thursday in all 18 towns of Karachi besides in those tehsils where trouble is expected due to tension among supporters of high- profile rival candidates,” said Sindh caretaker Chief Minister Abdul Quadir Halepota.

He was speaking at the press conference after presiding over a law and order meeting at the Chief Minister House on Tuesday. He warned that severe action would be taken against people who staged sit-ins at polling stations.

“No one would be allowed to take the law into their own hands or indulge in the display of arms,” he said, adding that if anybody tried to stop voters from casting their votes, or to rig election, they “would be dealt with with an iron hand”.

Urging people to go to the polling stations without any fear and exercise their right to vote as the police and Rangers had already been told to handle trouble-makers sternly.

Caretaker Home Minister Akhtar Zamin, who was present on the occasion, in reply to a question said army troops would be available to step in only if the law and order went out of the police and Rangers’ control.

He said to rush in more army troops and Rangers to trouble spots, the Sindh government had requested the GHQ to provide it with three to four helicopters to shift 25 to 30 soldiers to a trouble stop to control the situation.

“If they are made available to us, they will be stationed in Sukkur and Hyderabad,” he added. In reply to a question, the home minister said out of the 13,413 polling stations 491 were situated in the Katcha areas. And as the terrain was not conducive to safe travelling, the government could not allow foreign observers to go there because Rangers and police would not be available for accompanying them due to their election duty.

Brig (retd) Zamin said the government was recruiting 15,000 Qaumi Razakars for four days as there was a provision to acquire such services under the police order. As for the criteria for recruitment, he said, most of them would be those who had applied for recruitment in the police but had failed in interviews. However, he said, it was being ensured that people recruited should not be activists of any political party and had no criminal record.