NA-48 by-polls: ECP declares 38 of 262 polling stations sensitive

Three placed in ‘highly sensitive’ category, while remaining 35 declared ‘very sensitive’.

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday labelled 38 of the 262 polling stations set up for the NA-48 by-election on August 22 as “sensitive”.

An ECP official said three polling stations have been placed in Category A — highly sensitive — namely at Islamabad Model School in Tarnol, Islamabad College for Boys in F-7/4, and Islamabad College for Girls in F-7/4.

The remaining 35 polling stations were placed in the ‘very sensitive’ Category B, including the federal government boys’ secondary schools at Shah Allah Ditta and Golra Sharif and Junior Model School in Sector G-7/2.

According to the ECP, there are 282,850 eligible voters in NA-48 — 150,343 males and 132,507 females. The official said the by-election turnout was expected to be lower than during the May 11 general elections, during which the figure was 60 per cent.

The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration has finalised security arrangements in the capital for the by-election and will be deputing 2,000 police personnel across all polling stations, according to ICT Spokesperson Rana Akbar Hayat.

According to the security plan, 2,000 policemen will be deputed in the capital, which has been divided into 10 sectors. Each sector will be supervised by an assistant superintendent of police (ASP) or deputy superintendent of police (DSP).

A special police control room — which will be monitored by a superintendent of police (SP) to ensure smooth coordination between security personnel — has been set up at Islamabad Model College for Boys in Sector F-8/4.

In addition, 10 quick response Rangers teams have been constituted and will be deployed across different areas.

Traffic plan

The Islamabad Traffic Police will depute over 150 traffic wardens in the capital. Two DSPs and two SPs will also be on duty and will be monitored by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Moeen Masood.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2013.