Police officers in Istocno Sarajevo said Sunday they apprehended three suspects for alleged electoral engineering in Pale settlement, near the capital Sarajevo.

According to the Interior Ministry of Bosnia's Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) entity, the police found out the suspects organised electoral engineering by buying votes and when officers stopped and asked them to show their identification documents, one of them attacked a police officer.

Also in Istocno Sarajevo, where Mayor is elected directly for the first time in history, Democratic People's Alliance (DNS) said five of their activists were taken to the police station for questioning in Pale.

The DNS said their activists were apprehended for no reason and without any explanation. Three activists were since released from custody after giving statements.

A similar situation took place in Istocna Ilidza, also near Bosnia's capital, where police officials said they prevented Serb Democratic Party's (SDS) activists from forming a so-called Bulgarian train – a situation where voters enter a polling station with pre-marked ballots, swapping them for the empty ones they receive at the entrance to the station. After they cast their marked ballots, the empty ballots are given to another person who marks them according to a previous instruction and repeats the process.

After taking their statement, the police in Istocna Ilidza said they released all three SDS activists.