E-Paper
70,000 security personnel will oversee Delhi elections on Saturday
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
About 75,000 personnel of Delhi Police, the paramilitary forces and home guards will be deployed across the national capital when Delhi votes on Saturday to elect a new assembly.
Among other tasks, they will provide multilayered security at 2,689 polling booths, police said on Thursday. “545 critical booths will have additional security in place,” Anil Mittal, additional spokesperson of Delhi Police, said.
Police said the city borders are already under strict vigil to prevent the influx of illegal weapons, illicit liquor, drugs, and money that could be used to influence voters. “We have been coordinating with our counterparts in neighbouring states to ensure the borders are not porous,” said the officer.
The police will also patrol the Yamuna to ensure no one takes the water route.
Those keeping a watch on the polling booths will include 40,000 Delhi Police and 15,000 paramilitary personnel. The local police will be assisted by about 19,000 home guards, Mittal said.
The officer said multiple teams will either be deployed at strategic positions to keep a watch on illegal activities or they will constantly be on the move.
The personnel will ensure the safe movement of voting machines from polling booths to counting centres. The police have been trained in transporting EVMs in association with election officials.
Ever since the model code of conduct came into effect on January 6, the police have seized nearly 97,000 litres of illicit liquor and 774 kilos of drugs. The liquor seizure this time is 175% more than in the 2015 elections.
The police have recovered 494 illegal pistols, a 900% jump from what was recovered in 2015 and a 2,500% jump from the 2008 assembly elections.
The police this time have faced flak for their handling of the shooting incidents during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The deputy commissioner of police of south-east district—where shootings happened near the Shaheen Bagh and Jamia protest sites—was transferred by the election commission. A crime branch officer was reprimanded for addressing the media to share the political background of a man who had opened fire in Shaheen Bagh.
