A week after allegations of widespread fraud in Pakistan’s elections, a senior official said on Saturday, February 17 (Salugahi 28), that the elections had been rigged.

Liaquat Ali Chatta, the city commissioner of Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the country’s powerful military, said he was handing himself over to the police.

There were widespread allegations of fraud after officials shut down the country’s mobile phone network on election day and took more than 24 hours to count votes.

The army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, which failed to win a majority in the elections, has announced a coalition with the Pakistan People’s Party to form the next government.

Liaquat Ali Chatta said that before he was sacked, he himself was monitoring the vote rigging in Rawalpindi.

“We turned losers into winners,” he told reporters. He also said that 70,000 votes for 13 seats in the National Assembly were violated.

“I will hand myself over to the police for committing such a heinous crime,” he said. He also pointed out the head of the Election Commission of Pakistan and the country’s senior judge.

The Election Commission denied Chatta’s allegations, but said in a statement that it would “investigate”.

A group of supporters of the Independent Human Rights Commission in Pakistan said after Liaquat Ali Chatta’s announcement that “the involvement of government officials in Pakistan’s frauds is coming to light.”

The candidates of Muslim League (N) and People’s Party have won many seats in Rawalpindi and have edged their rival Imran Khan.

Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has announced that it will hold protests across the country on Saturday in response to the alleged fraud.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) battled a month-long crackdown that disrupted its election campaign and forced its candidates to run as independents, garnering more votes than any other party.

But this party does not want to form an alliance with its opponents, which has paved the way for the formation of the next government under the leadership of the Muslim League-N Party.