Pakistan Elections 2018: Peshawar police readies 1,000 'kafans' as ‘preemptive measure’

Following the spate of violence in the run up to the Pakistan general elections, police in Peshawar has arranged 1,000 kafans (burial shroud) as a preemptive measure. 

Peshawar’s deputy commissioner announced on Monday that he has arranged 1,000 kafans ahead of the polling which is taking place across the country today. 

The country witnessed a series of deadly attacks targeting candidates and campaign rallies, including one that killed 151 people in Balochistan province.

"We hope we will have a peaceful voting process but we're ready to deal with an emergency situation," Imran Hamid Sheikh, the deputy commissioner of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told Pakistani daily The Express Tribune.

The official said a ban was also imposed on aerial firing, black-tinted glasses and the unregistered entry of vehicles in Peshawar.

The statement did not go down well with the government and Sheikh was issued a show cause notice by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Dost Muhammad Khan. The chief minister also suggested disciplinary action the deputy commissioner for issuing irresponsible statements to incite fear among voters.

The election in Pakistan was one of the bloodiest with a series of bombing targeting political parties and election rallies. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Sardar Ikramullah Gandapur was killed when a suicide bomber targetted his vehicle in Dera Ismail Khan on Sunday. Gandapur was contesting the general election from PK-99 constituency and was leaving his home for an election meeting on Sunday when his jeep was targetted.

A suicide attack in Balochistan's Mastung on July 13 killed nearly 150 people including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Siraj Raisani. 

Before that, a bomb targeted a rally by the Awami National Party (ANP) in Peshawar on July 10, killing party leader Haroon Bilour.

Besides these, stray incidents of violence and firing have been reported from across the country before the general elections. 

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 3,459 candidates are contesting for 272 general seats of the National Assembly, while 8,396 candidates are running for 577 general seats of the four provincial assemblies - Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. 

Nearly 106 million people are registered to vote in the elections polling for which began at 8 am today.

About 449,465 policemen and over 370,000 military personnel have been deployed for security. 

For a smooth polling process, the ECP has deployed around 1.6 million staff at polling stations across the country.

(With PTI inputs)