BUNER Bakht Jehan Khan of Jamaat-i-Islami was leading by over 1,500 votes over his closest rival Istiqbal Khan of the Awami National Party in the by-election for the National Assembly seat NA-28 in Buner.

Till the time of filing this report on Sunday night, Mr Bakht Jehan had secured 24,975 votes against 23,435 votes polled by Mr Istiqbal. Results of 218 of the 267 polling stations were announced.

Polling in 11 stations was postponed after the suicide bombing earlier in the day.

The seat had fallen vacant following the death of Abdul Mateen Khan, father of Mr Istiqbal.

Nine candidates are in the run, besides Istiqbal Khan and Bakht Jehan Khan. They are Maulana Fazli Ghafoor of JUI-F, Fanoos Gujar of Pakistan Awami Party, Ali Sher Khan of PML-N, Maulana Mohammad Hameed of JUP and independents Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Nowshad Khan and Syed Amir Zeb Bacha.

In the February election, Abdul Mateen Khan had bagged 22,601 votes against 18,456 polled by Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, who contested on the PPP ticket.