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More than fractional the polling centres person been identified arsenic "risk-prone" for the wide elections successful Bangladesh, arsenic officials said 90% of them volition beryllium nether CCTV surveillance, with galore policemen deployed successful the capital, Dhaka, wearing assemblage cameras.
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Officials said the Election Commission's information strategy is based connected hazard assessment. “Security deployment is being made based connected section sensitivity assessments,” Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Mohammad Sanaullah told a media briefing precocious Tuesday.
EC officials said the elections would witnesser the largest-ever deployment of instrumentality enforcement unit and the astir extended usage of exertion successful the country's electoral history.
Mr. Sanaullah said the canvass assemblage expected instrumentality enforcement agencies to guarantee a peaceful ambiance for voters during polling and aft elections.
He said the EC was mostly satisfied with the existent law-and-order concern and “compared to immoderate clip successful the past, we are successful a amended presumption now”.
His comments came hours aft the constabulary Inspector General Baharul Alam said they recovered 24,000 retired of astir 43,000 polling centres crossed the state were “high” oregon “moderate” risk-prone predetermination stations.
Police said they provided a database of risk-prone polling centres to the EC, which showed that retired of 2,131 polling centres successful Dhaka, 1,614 were risk-prone. However, the army, successful a media briefing earlier, said they person identified 2 centres successful Dhaka metropolis to beryllium "risky".
Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retd.) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah connected Tuesday (February 10) said astir 958,000 instrumentality enforcement unit person been deployed crossed the state to guarantee a free, just and impartial nationalist predetermination and referendum connected Thursday.
"Additionally, for the archetypal time, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), drones, and body-worn cameras are being utilized for predetermination security," helium told a property briefing connected wide predetermination preparations astatine Nirbachan Bhaban successful the capital's Agargaon.
He said voting volition beryllium held successful 299 constituencies connected Thursday. Voting successful Sherpur-3 has been postponed owed to the decease of a campaigner there.
A full of 2,098 enforcement magistrates and 657 judicial magistrates volition discharge duties successful the predetermination filed.
The Election Commissioner said, "For the archetypal time, UAVs, drones, and body-worn cameras are being utilized for instrumentality enforcement. Around 25,000 body-worn cameras volition beryllium deployed connected the field. Some of these are IP-based for unrecorded feed, portion others volition grounds locally. Moreover, for continuous monitoring, CCTV cameras person already been installed successful implicit 90% of centres." He said voting volition proceed from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.. However, voters contiguous wrong the polling halfway by 4:30 p.m. volition inactive beryllium allowed to vote.
He said voting volition beryllium held successful a full of 42,659 centres. EC information showed that first-time voters made up immoderate 3.58% of the full 1,27,700,597 voters.
The polls are being held simultaneously on with a referendum connected a analyzable 84-point betterment package. The contention is chiefly betwixt the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its erstwhile ally, Jamaat-e-Islami.
Chief advisor Muhammad Yunus’ interim authorities past twelvemonth disbanded deposed premier curate Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and barred it from contesting the polls.
A bid of pre-poll surveys conducted successful the past 2 months by consulting firms, probe organisations and deliberation tanks suggest that the BNP was the frontrunner and that its caller chairman, Tarique Rahman, is successful rod presumption to beryllium the adjacent premier minister.
Hasina’s Awami League authorities was ousted successful a student-led convulsive thoroughfare protest, dubbed the July Uprising, connected August 5, 2024.
