DASKA: Two persons died and three others injured after unidentified armed suspects opened fire near four polling stations in Daska during the NA-75 by-election on Friday.
According to sources, armed clashes erupted between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers at different polling stations including, the Sohdra polling station in Wazirabad during the PP-51 poll. As a result, five people sustained bullet injuries
Soon after the incidents, police and Rangers reached the spot and control the situation. The injured were shifted to different hospitals for treatment.
The two people succumbed to their injuries on the way to the hospital. Police also arrested four suspects further investigation is underway. The incident created panic among voters, however, the situation got normal after the arrival of security forces, sources added.
It is worth mentioning here the voting process had commenced for by-elections in four constituencies including two vacant seats of the National Assembly (NA) and two seats of the provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is holding by-elections on four vacant seats including NA-45 Kurram, NA-75 Sialkot, PP-51 Gujranwala and PK-63 Nowshera.
The NA-75 constituency in Tehsil Daska, District Sialkot was vacated after the death of PML-N’s MNA Syed Iftikharuddin in August 2020, while Punjab Assembly seats PP-51 Wazirabad fell vacant after the death of PML-N’s Chaudhry Shaukat Manzoor Cheema in June 2020 due to coronavirus.
Nosheen Iftikhar, daughter of late Syed Iftikharuddin, has been given a party ticket in the NA-75 constituency. A tough contest is being expected between her and PTI’s Amjad Malhi. TLP’s Muhammad Khalil Sindhu and the other seven independent candidates are also running for the seat.
According to the ECP, the number of registered voters in the constituency is 494,300. As many as 360 polling stations have been set up out of which 155 are declared sensitive and 25 are highly sensitive.
