THATTA, Feb 21: Protesting alleged tampering with the polling record including ballot papers by the Shirazis and their henchmen in the office of Returning Officer on Thursday night, hundreds of PPP workers blocked the National Highway by staging a sit-in outside Thatta Press Club.

Speaking at a press conference the People’s Party leaders claimed that caretaker Provincial Minister Aijaz Ai Shah Shirazi, District Nazim Shafqat Hussain Shah Shirazi, their political adviser Hanif Memon and supporters along with ASI Faisal Shafi and ASI Hussain Hijab entered into the DRO office in the sessions court building from its backdoor and tampered with the ballot papers in favour of Shirazi candidates on Thursday night.

The PPP leaders claimed that the returning officer of Sujawal by taking bribe from the Shirazi group helped them in massive rigging which resulted in the success of three Shirazi group candidates — Syed Ayaz Ali Shah Shirazi (son of Provincial Minister Aijaz Ali Shah), Shah Hussain Shah Shirazi (son of District Nazim Syed Shafqat Hussain Shah Shirazi), and Mohammed Ali Malkani.

Earlier the protesters, led by PPP candidate on NA-238 Thatta-II and district president of the party Arbab Wazir Ahmed Memon, newly-elected MNA Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro, newly-elected MPA Abdul Jalil Memon, newly-elected MPA Haji Usman Jalbani and former MPA Shafiq Ahmed Shah Bukhari, and PPP office-holder Altaf Khwaja, marched on the main roads and raised slogans against the Shirazis and returning officer of Sujawal, Indryas Barkat, and reached the press club and staged a sit-in.

The protesters claimed that Sujawal returning officer Indryas Barkat succumbed to greed and helped the Shirazis group candidates to secure them a victory.

Narrating the details of the incident they said that when the Shirazis were tempering with the ballot papers at the DRO office in the middle of the night the news somehow leaked out to PPP leaders and hundreds of them reached the sessions court and surrounded the premises. Sensing the situation the Shirazis escaped from there.

In the morning all candidates were verbally summoned by the returning officer concerned for consolidation of results.

The defeated candidates of PPP applied for recounting of votes but Indryas Barkat flatly refused.

The PPP have called for a complete strike in the district against the incident on Friday. They said that if the election material and ballot papers were not entrusted to the provincial election commissioner and a thorough inquiry by the Election Commission of Pakistan was not held they would widen their protest.

Reports said that on Wednesday night hundreds of PPP activist and the newly elected MNA and MPAs from Thatta laid a siege to Sessions Court when they were informed that an alleged rigging was going on inside the court premises by manipulating sealed ballot boxes of NA-238 Thatta-2 by the hands of the Shirazi.

Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro, Jalil Memon, and Usman Jalbani told Dawn that the caretaker provincial minister, Thatta District Nazim Shafqat Shah Shirazi, his political manager Hanif Memon, with two police ASIs had entered into the DRO Office and tampered with the votes in the custody of RO.

However, when the protesters besieged the premises, the minister and the nazim escaped from the backside of the court and Mohammed Hanif Memon escaped by scaling the outer wall of the DRO office.

Later, the Rangers arrived and assured the PPP workers that they would guard the DRO office and would not allow anyone to enter into it on which the PPP activists left the place.

The PPP leaders demanded that all those who were involved in manipulating of record should be arrested and the record should be shifted from Thatta DRO office to provincial election commission authorities.