Ahmedabad, Apr 25 (PTI) A three-tier security is in place for the local body elections in Gujarat scheduled for April 26, aided by CCTV surveillance and deployment of special squads in sensitive areas, a top police officer said on Saturday.
Polling will be held from 7 AM to 6 PM across 15 municipal corporations, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats, and 260 taluka panchayats. Votes will be counted on April 28.
Director General of Police KLN Rao said elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure free and fair polling.
The security set up covers around 29,000 polling buildings and over 49,000 polling stations, he said, adding that booths are classified as sensitive, hyper-sensitive and normal based on standard operating procedures.
Local police will be accompanied by armed cops, State Reserve Police, Central forces, Home Guards, Gram Rakshak Dal (GRD), and Sagar Rakshak Dal (SRD).
“A three-tier arrangement has been implemented, comprising booth-level deployment, sub-perimeter security and route patrolling. Additionally, special police squads will be deployed in areas specifically identified as sensitive,” Rao told reporters in Gandhinagar.
He said 113 inter-state and intra-district check posts have been set up as part of the pre-poll measures.
Referring to the police crackdown, he said around 3,000 non-bailable warrants have been executed in one month, and more than 450 cases under the PASA (Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act) and externment have been filed across the state.
Enforcement drives have led to seizure of liquor valued at more than Rs 30 crore, and nearly 95 per cent of licensed weapons have been confiscated across the state, he said.
He said surveillance is being strengthened through CCTV networks linked to district-level “Netram” systems and the state-level “Trinetra” Command and Control Centre, which will function round-the-clock.
“Feeds from all areas connected to the CCTV network arrive at the command centre. We will receive alerts if any attempts are made to cause a disruption, and we will take strict action against them,” he said.
Social media is also being closely monitored through cyber units to prevent the spread of objectionable content, he said.
“We are actively monitoring for any objectionable posts that attempt to spoil the peaceful atmosphere or intend to disrupt the elections. If we identify any such objectionable content, it will be promptly deleted,” the DGP said. PTI PJT PD NSK
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