KARACHI, Feb 18: More that 50 people, most of them workers of the Pakistan People’s Party, including one of its candidates, were arrested on Monday as polling remained largely peaceful in most parts of the city with minor incidents of clashes among supporters of contesting parties.
Public transport remained off the streets with a majority of people preferring to stay indoors till noon. A number of polling stations were seen crowded in the later half of the day. However, polling staff and necessary stationery did not reach polling stations in time causing an inordinate delay in the start of polling.
Police and Rangers had to resort to baton-charges when angry voters raised anti-government slogans for delayed polling.
Polling was also disrupted at several polling stations after the clashes among rival political activists.
A PPP candidate for PS-110, Habib Jan, and his associates were booked for kidnapping a worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement at a polling station near the Light House, where polling remained suspended for two hours after armed men stormed into the polling station.
Capital City Police Officer DIG Niaz Siddiqui told Dawn that not a single person was injured in any poll-related incident though aerial firing was reported from several parts of the city. “Polling remained largely peaceful and smooth across the city with no significant violent incident,” he added.
The city police chief said police arrested only 17 people in different localities. “Of them 15 were booked and arrested for carrying weapons in violation of the ban imposed under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he added.
Giving a town-wise breakdown of the arrests, Mr Siddiqui said five people were arrested in Saddar Town, three in Lyari, seven in Jamshed and two people were arrested in Site Town. “We have seized 15 weapons from them,” he added.
The CCPO said 20,000 police personnel were deployed for maintaining law and order during polling. “Additionally, the complete strength of Rangers was there to assist police,” he added.
The city police chief said army units were also stationed in certain parts of the city, but they were not used. He said a joint flag march was conducted by personnel of police, Rangers and army in the city after polling.Rangers spokesman Major Asad Ali told Dawn that Rangers arrested 23 people in parts of the city for carrying and displaying weapons.
He said Mohammed Amin and Mohammed Saeed were arrested with a repeater gun and a pistol in Lyari, Ajmal and Arif with two TT pistols and 53 rounds in Baldia Town and Noor Mohammed and Mohammed Rahim with two TT pistols in Shah Faisal Colony.
Besides, the spokesman said Rangers personnel also seized an 8mm rifle with nine rounds, a repeater with six rounds and two TT pistols with 15 rounds from an abandoned vehicle in Jamshed Town.
He said Rangers arrested 14 people in Gulshan, Gadap and North Nazimabad and seized from them a .222 rifle, two pump-action rifles, an Ozi gun, two Kalashnikovs, three TT pistols, 14 cellphones, a 9mm pistol and a Prado jeep (BC-2727).
The spokesman said Rangers also arrested a PPP candidate for PS-95 in Site, Ziaul Hasan, and his friend Mohammed Hussain, for kidnapping presiding officer Ghulam Farid Awan at the Shaheen Public School polling station. “A TT pistol and a 7mm rifle along with 20 rounds were also seized from them,” he added.
He said Rangers got the presiding officer released from the kidnappers after a two-hour struggle.
Meanwhile, a press release said that Rangers arrested two guards of Irfanullah Marwat in the small hours of morning for displaying arms and ammunition.
