ISLAMABAD, Feb 12: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday refuted charges of the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) about rigging in the by-election on a National Assembly seat (NA-250) in Karachi and alleged that the "PPP terrorists" had resorted to violence during the polling.

Speaking at a news conference, MQM’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Dr Farooq Sattar and MNA Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi challenged the PPP to bring even a single report of any independent media to prove its rigging charges.

Dr Sattar said that overall the polling remained peaceful in Karachi and disturbances were reported only from two polling stations out of total 135 polling stations. He criticised the PPP for moving several privilege motions in the National Assembly, alleging that party's female MNAs had been attacked. He asked the PPP leaders to give names of any of its injured workers if they claimed that the MQM had committed violence in Karachi.

On the other hand, he said, five workers of the MQM were still under treatment at the Jinnah Hospital and Civil Hospital, who had received "gunshot injuries" according to medico-legal reports.

He said that three "armed terrorists" of the PPP, namely Imtiaz Khattak, Waqar Shah and Asad Shahzad, had been arrested red-handed with illegal weapons.