ABBOTTABAD: Three activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf were killed and two others were injured in an incident of violence related to local government elections here on Tuesday.

With the latest killings, death toll in poll-related violence in Khyber Pakhunkhwa has risen to 21.

According to police, supporters of a PML-N candidate, who had lost the election, opened fire on PTI workers, killing three of them and injuring two others.

Sources said the PTI workers were in a restaurant at Fawara Chowk when they were attacked.

Carrying the bodies of the victims, their relatives protested on Karakorum Highway and demanded immediate arrest of the assailants.

They stopped the vehicle of National Assembly Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi. His guards fired shots into the air and the driver sped up the vehicle.

District police chief Sher Akbar and DSP Aziz Afridi held negotiations with the protesters and assured them of early arrest of the accused. On this, the protesters dispersed and ended a two-hour blockade.

On Monday, a councillor-elect of Chammad village council was killed by rivals when he was going home.

Khan Mohammad was also elected chairman of the council by securing the highest number of votes in the election.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2015

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