February 21, 2008	Thursday	Safar 13, 1429

SUKKUR/JACOBABAD, Feb 20: The returning officer of Jacobabad on Wednesday withheld results of election for PS-15 Thull, following Pakistan People’s Party candidate’s allegations of large-scale rigging by his rival.

Sources said that PPP’s Mir Hassan Khoso was declared winner of PS-15 according to unofficial results announced by the returning officer late on Monday night. The officer said Mr Khoso had received 39,358 votes, while his rival Dr. Suhrab Sarki had got 17,632 votes, sources said.

But on Tuesday, the officer announced that the loser Dr. Suhrab Sarki had actually won by getting 53,312 votes against Mr Khoso’s 37,645 votes, sources said.

After the announcement hundreds of angry PPP activists led by Mr Khoso staged a demonstration in front of the district and sessions court of Jacobabad and started shouting slogans against the government.

Heavy contingents of police and Rangers rushed to the court and used batons against the protestors, injuring more than 30, after they refused disperse.

Later, the enraged protestors staged a sit-in on Quetta and Civil Hospital roads and burnt tyres on the roads. The blockade continued till the filing of this report. The supporters of rival candidate had kidnapped PPP polling agents on Feb 18, who were later found in Garhi Hassan village, the protesters alleged.

Meanwhile, the returning officer Qamaruddin Abbasi announced he was withholding results of PS-15 and summoning the two candidates to appear before him on Feb 27 with concrete proofs of rigging.

The sources claimed that the officer had written to the Election Commission seeking permission for re-election on 15 polling stations in Odhi, Abdul Qadir Shah, Garhi Hassan, Murad Sarki, Abdullah Sarki, Munoo Sarki and other areas.

In Hyderabad, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders on Wednesday accused rivals of committing large-scale rigging to engineer win in elections and demanded re-election for NA-219, NA-220, PS-45, PS-46, PS-48 and PS-49 under the supervision of army.

Sahibzada Shabbir Hassan Ansari, Mohammad Hanif Siddiqui and Samiuddin Sajid who lost contest for NA-220, PS-45 and PS-49, said at a news conference at the press club that the Election Commission should order an inquiry into large-scale rigging in Hyderabad and Latifabad talukas.

They alleged that their rivals removed 5,000 posters, 45 panaflex boards and party slogans written on walls as soon as the election campaign started in the city and forced closure of their election offices in Islamabad, Pakistan Chowk, Bakra Mandi, Muslim Town, Noorani Basti and several other places at gunpoint.

Shabbir Ansari, who is also a former MNA, said that he had complained many times to Chief Election Commissioner, provincial election commissioner, DRO and senior police officers but no one provided any protection PML-N candidates.

Law of jungle prevailed in Hyderabad on the election day, when armed people took control of all the polling stations, threw out their polling agents and insulted female voters, he said, adding that the polling staff appeared completely helpless before the hoodlums.

Mr Ansari demanded that if thumb impressions of voters registered in NA-220 constituency were examined they would disclose that each voter had cast votes more than once.

He demanded that the voters’ list should be checked to ascertain as how many dead, too, had cast votes. The presiding officer and polling staff especially female staff should be asked under oath to verify the facts, he said.

Mohammad Hanif Siddiqui said that he was attacked by armed men at a polling station in Paretabad and informed SHO Pinyari on his mobile phone but he did not take any action against the assailants.

In Mirpurkhas district, two workers of Pakistan Muslim League Functional (PML-F) were injured in an armed attack in Abdul Majeed Jarwar village in the jurisdiction of Dilbar Maher Police Station, on Wednesday.

Umer Jarwar told reporters at the Civil Hospital that he was a polling agent of the PML-F candidate and had exchanged hot words with the PPP workers.

They later came to his house, pelted stones and attacked people with sticks, injuring Ashique Ali Jarwar and Abdul Wahid Jarwar who were rushed to the hospital.

Taluka Nazim Sindhri Sarfaraz Junejo of the PML-F alleged the Dilbar Maher Police did not lodge an FIR instead were supporting attackers.