ATTOCK, Aug 25: The second phase of local bodies elections in 72 union councils of the district on Thursday were marred by maladministration, mismanagement, harassment of female voters, complaints of rigging at female polling stations, violence and violation of election rules.

Violence erupted soon after the conclusion of polling in various areas of the district due to poor security arrangements.

Despite the fact that the district returning officer (DRO), Minister of State Malik Amin Aslam and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Malik Allahyar Khan, had declared Attock sensitive, troops were not deployed in the area.

A child was killed and several persons were injured, including a candidate for Attock-III Union Council naib nazim slot, his son and three brothers, in a cross fire between rivals in Urangabad village, Jand tehsil.

The DPO Attock, however, claimed that the incident was not linked to the local bodies elections and was a result of an old enmity.

Clashes occurred after the conclusion of polling in Akhori union council and Attock union council. The injured were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital and Combined Military Hospital, Attock.

PPP Attock Tehsil President Malik Shahan Khan, while expressing his concern over the violence, termed it a failure of law enforcement agencies.

He said several party activists were injured by a rival group while the local police remained a silent spectator.

He blamed the poor law and order situation in the district on the government’s failure to deploy troops. He said the local police were unable to control the situation due to lack of resources.

Sources claimed that the request of troops’ deployment was turned down by the Punjab government after the district coordination officer gave assurances that the local administration would maintain law and order during the polling.

However, when the DCO Attock was contacted he was not available for comments.

On the other hand, DPO Attock Capt (retired) Zafar Iqbal Awan, while talking to Dawn, said after receiving reports of violence, extra police and elite force were dispatched to the area. The overall law and order situation is under control, he said.

When asked why troops were not deployed in the district, the DPO said he could not comments on this issue. However, Attock police have demanded five army platoons under a police contingency plan.

Meanwhile, confusion prevailed in almost all polling stations due to wrong entries of names, NICs in the voters’ lists and lack of proper polling arrangements. In some union councils symbols were also missing from ballot papers.

According to the election authority Attock, 2,210 candidates, including 578 women, are contesting for 936 seats of nazims, naib nazims and councillors.

In 72 union councils, 734 polling stations were set up. The number of registered voters was 692,325, including 323,381 female voters.

Majority of polling agents complained of rigging, discrepancies in voters’ lists and partiality of polling staff.

Several candidates and their agents complained that the staff deputed for polling duty at women polling stations was not trained.