Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Police gearing up for elections

LAW &ORDER To strengthen security, service of retired police personnel, home guards and traffic wardens and ex-servicemen has been sought, writes V.S. Palaniappan

WITH ONLY a few weeks to go for the elections to the State Assembly, the police machinery is gearing up to ensure that everything goes off smoothly. The exercise included estimation of the required police force for sensitive and hypersensitive pockets in every Assembly segment. The police are keeping vigil in naxal-infected regions in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri to thwart any attempts to disturb the conduct of the elections.

But these two districts, besides Coimbatore, Erode and the Nilgiris, have border check posts to prevent cross border violence. The west zone comprises Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem Rural, Namakkal, Erode, Coimbatore Rural and Nilgiris districts besides Coimbatore and Salem City Commissionerates. The zone has 55 Assembly segments with over 12,000-odd polling stations. The zone has a sanctioned strength of around 14,000 police personnel, including standby units such as Armed Reserve and Tamil Nadu Special Police Battalion.

There has to be enhanced security cover for polling materials, polling stations and counting centres besides strike forces and personal security officers for observers and superior officers. In addition, the police have to providesecurity to banks, power plants and vital installations. The manpower required for providing foolproof security for the elections would be close to 22,000. According to the Election Commission norms, there would be a minimum of 15 sensitive pockets in every Assembly segment and cities such as Coimbatore and Salem are expected to have relatively more number of sensitive pockets. The police have already stepped up their watch on history-sheeters and rowdy elements who are likely to cause breach of public peace.

With the availability of personnel not improving drastically the police have sought the help of home guards, traffic wardens and ex-servicemen who retired from service in the last five years. They could approach the nearest District SP office, Range DIG office or the Commissioner's office at Salem and Coimbatore and get their names enrolled. In addition to all these resources, the police are pinning hopes on the election authorities for sanction of a minimum of ten companies of Central para-military forces as a supplementary strength and reinforcements from the neighbouring States.

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