Huge police presence after polls schedule

A large number of policemen will be deployed across the country from the day the election schedule is announced.

Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwari gave the instruction at a top-level meeting with commissioners and deputy inspector generals of all metropolitan cities and different ranges respectively, according to meeting sources. 

The Election Commission is likely to announce the polls schedule on November 4.

During the meeting held at the Police Headquarters (PHQ), preparation ahead of the election and the do's and don'ts for the force members were discussed, said an official who attended the meeting.

The meeting also discussed what logistics police had and what else was required. The effective deployment of police force was also discussed, the official added.

The police chief further instructed to take lawful action against the rules' violators.

Earlier, several officials at the PHQs said they would mark the “risky” and “vulnerable” polling centres and update the list of local criminals and militants. Besides, police will monitor activities of political leaders accused in different cases, along with keeping an eye out for those who were on the run or out of the scene.

The PHQ had also earlier planned security initiatives for VIPs, returning and presiding officers and deployment of armed police at polling centres before and after the election, they added. 

As police members would require to work for some extra hours during the election, the PHQ had instructed to start preparing a roster for them.

Last month, Md Sohel Rana, assistant inspector general (AIG) of PHQ, told The Daily Star that they had planned for the upcoming national election but it would officially start after the schedule declaration by the election commissioner and following instructions from the home ministry.

In the upcoming national election, the police officials will treat cyber related issues as a major one. 

Officials said that a cybercrime “coordination cell” had already started its activities from the first week of September to prevent spread of rumours and fake news during the election. Around 100 police teams across the country are providing updates to the coordination cell in real time and these teams will also check activities during the polls.