KOHAT: The election commission has withheld the results of PK-80 and NA-32 here after alleged hooliganism by an independent candidate, Amjid Afridi, and his supporters at a women’s polling station who broke ballot boxes and dispersed ballots.

They allegedly barged into Babri Banda polling station at the girls high school in PK-80 despite strict security and presence of police and army personnel at around 2am (Thursday) and threatened the presiding officer for turning the results in his favour. The presiding officer refused and told them that the staff was there for ensuring free and transparent elections.

The workers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf made footage of the whole scene which became viral on social media. The presiding officer did not submit report about the incident to the district returning officer despite protest by PTI.However, when the report spread out she wrote a letter to district police officer Sohail Khalid to lodge an FIR against Amjid Afridi and his workers and launch an inquiry into the incident.

When contacted, PRO to the DPO, Fazal Naeem, told this correspondent on Thursday that so far FIR had not been registered and it would be done after discussing the matter with the district returning officer/district and sessions judge about including the relevant clauses into it.

Stringent measures taken by the ECP to give extra powers to the law enforcement personnel for controlling law and order and any intervention during polling had blocked all doors of poll rigging.

Talking to this scribe, district secretary general of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Haji Abid Khan claimed that after closure of polling some suspicious people in plainclothes entered the polling stations and booths and after remaining inside for an hour told the presiding officers that only they would transfer the ballots.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2018