ISLAMABAD, Feb 12: Deployment of army troops for maintaining peace in different parts of the country during the elections began on Tuesday and the government declared over 19,000 polling stations ‘sensitive’ and imposed a complete ban on carrying and display of weapons in the vicinity of the stations.

“Army has started mobilising and moving to the areas and the deployment will be completed by February 15,” Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema said at his weekly press briefing on the law and order situation.

He said the army would act if the law and order situation at a place went out of control of police or the second line forces. He said the federal government had placed the civil armed forces like Rangers, Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary at the disposal of the provincial governments. “All these arrangements have been made to ensure that people cast their vote without any fear in an environment of peace and order,” he said.

The spokesman said nobody would be allowed to disrupt the polling process or create trouble. “Anyone trying to hinder the process will be dealt with sternly. No-one will be allowed to display or carry weapons on the polling day. Anyone found with weapons will be arrested and punished,” he said.

According to a categorisation, 64,175 polling stations are being set up, of which 19,380 have been declared ‘sensitive’.

The number of ‘most sensitive polling stations’ stands at 8,928 -- 3,787 in Punjab, 1,575 in Sindh, 1,094 in the NWFP, 1,350 in Balochistan and 1,122 in Fata.

The spokesman said that some areas in the NWFP, Balochistan, Fata and Sindh had been declared ‘high-risk’. They are Swat, Shangla, Lower Dir, Malakand Agency, Hangu and Tankand Bannu in the NWFP; South Waziristan Agency, North Waziristan Agency, Mohmand Agency, Bajaur Agency, FR Kohat, Darra Adam Khel and Bannu in Fata; parts of the reverine belt known as Kacha Area in Sindh; and Kohlu, Dera Bugti and Killa Abdullah in Balochistan.