KARACHI (National Times) – A man was killed and several others wounded in firing incident as violence marred the NA-240 by-election.

The voting time for the NA-240 by-election in Karachi officially ended at 5 pm while the counting is underway, the constituency also witnessed violence during the day, with members of political parties clashing with polling officials. Firing incidents also took place at six different points in the constituency.

The polling began at 8am and continued uninterrupted till 5pm but the the turnout was 5% till 3 pm during polling because the voters could not cast their votes due to the working day.

The vehicle of Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leader Anis Kaimkhani was fired upon in the city’s Korangi area amid the by-election for a National Assembly constituency.

Fortunately, the PSP leader was not in the car when it was shot at. The police mobile moving along with Kaimkhani was also fired upon.

There are 529,853 registered voters in the constituency who will exercise their right of vote today. The number of female voters in the constituency is 235,470 while the number of male voters is 294,385.

The National Assembly seat comprising Landhi and Korangi area of District Korangi in Karachi had fallen vacant after the death of the MQM-P MNA Deputy Iqbal Muhammad on April 19.

The ECP had declared 203 polling stations in the constituency ‘very sensitive’ out of 309 polling stations while the remaining 106 polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’.

At least 25 candidates are contesting the by-election in NA-240 out of which 18 are independents. A close contest is expected between MQM-P, TLP, PSP, PPP and Mohajir Qaumi Movement.