KARACHI/ SIALKOT: Some ballot papers and as many as five empty ballot boxes have been found by the roadside in Karachi and Sialkot, fuelling suspicion about the transparency of the recently held general elections in the country.

According to an electoral candidate in Karachi, about a dozen ballot papers were found in a garbage dump near the Qayyumabad area of the city.

DIG police Amir Farooqui told Dawn that Pakistan Peoples Party candidate for NA-241 seat Moazzam Ali Qureshi informed the police about the recovery of the ballot papers from a dump near a famous superstore.

The police advised the candidate to approach the district returning officer concerned, who would launch an inquiry if needed. About 12 ballot papers were recovered.

In Sialkot, local people found five empty ballot boxes near the city’s Kashmir Park in the Cantonment area late on Friday night.

Police said that some unidentified people had thrown the empty ballot boxes.

After receiving information about the recovery of the ballot boxes, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s defeated candidate from the constituency (NA-73) along with a large number of his party workers reached the spot. They raised slogans against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who has won the election from the constituency.

Mr Dar alleged that the recovered ballot boxes were thrown by PML-N workers after they had stolen them from some local polling stations.

Meanwhile, Mr Asif rejected the PTI leader’s claims, saying that the latter was trying to get sympathy from the people of the constituency.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2018