ISLAMABAD: At least two people were killed and three injured in Daska, a small town in Punjab's Sialkot district, where an electoral contest was arranged for a vacant National Assembly seat on Friday, local media reported.
The incident was caused by a clash between the workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
Reacting to the development, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar ordered an inquiry into the shooting incident and announced on Twitter that his administration would do everything to arrest the culprits and bring them to justice.
The provincial election commission of Punjab also instructed the inspector general police to take notice of the incident that claimed the lives of a PTI and a PML-N worker.
Meanwhile, the two rival political factions blamed each other for ruining the election activity by generating violence.
PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz Sharif posted video clips on her social media account, showing her party workers allegedly intercepting a man in Wazirabad, an industrial city in Punjab's Gujranwala district, with a white bag with "Election Commission of Pakistan" written over it.
"PTI people caught red handed stealing bagfuls of votes by PMLN MPA Adil Chatta and Ataa Tarar," Sharif claimed in her Twitter post. "Seal was also broken. Police was a part of the plan to steal votes for PTI."
Similar allegations were made by PTI leaders, with the information advisor to the Punjab chief minister, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, claiming that PML-N politicians were violating the election commission's code of conduct by sitting inside polling stations.
