MIANWALI: Incidents of snatching of nomination papers of two PTI ticket aspirants from the returning office on the district court premises were reported on Wednesday.

Though both the aspirants blamed policemen in civvies, the district police rejected their charges and showed ignorance about the two incidents.

Ziaullah Khan Niazi advocate, a retired judicial officer, came along with other lawyers to get nomination papers for his son Barrister Omair Niazi from returning officer Shoaib Raz Khan.

When he came out the office, a police party headed by DSP Qaiser Gujjar in civvies snatched the nomination papers and escaped.

Talking to Dawn, Ziaullah Niazi said when he went to the office of the DSP, he found nomination papers on his table but suddenly, on his gesture, a police constable picked the same papers and rushed out of the office. The DSP, he said, showed his ignorance about the entire episode,

Ziaullah Niazi said such incidents were coercive measures to keep the expected PTI candidates away from election which is a clear signal of pre-election rigging.

Meanwhile, in another similar incident in the district courts, Rafiullah Khan, brother of former PTI MPA Ameenullah Khan and Gen Sanaullah Khan Shaheed, was allegedly deprived of his nomination papers by men in plain clothes.

The Mianwali District Bar held a meeting and condemned both incidents. It called a general body meeting on Thursday (today) to decide their next line of action.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2023