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All arrangements made for elections

LAW &ORDER The police and the district administration have made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of Assembly elections in Kozhikode, reports Biju Govind

All efforts have been made by the District Administration and the Police Department to conduct the Assembly polls smoothly in Kozhikode district on Saturday. Apart from the existing police force attached to the offices of the City Police Commissioner and the Kozhikode Rural Police, seven companies each comprising 75-80 personnel from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been deployed for election duty in the district.

District Collector Rachna Shah said that there were 72 sensitive booths and 35 highly sensitive booths in the district, which has 12 Assembly constituencies. Some of them are at Meyppayur, Nadapuram, Kozhikode I, Beypore, Vadakara and Kunnamangalam. In all there are 1,789 polling booths in the district. Beypore Assembly segment has the largest number of booths with 165.

She said that digital cameras would be used in around 250 booths to check bogus voting. The idea is to prevent a person casting multiple votes. The cameras have been used at places where the election officials suspect that there would be malpractices.

"Measures have been taken to deal with any law and order problems," said Ms. Shah, who is also the District Election Officer.

Kozhikode City Police Commissioner H. Venkatesh said that security had been tightened in the city in view of the elections. Over 1,600 policemen were deployed for poll duty in the city. Three companies of the Karnataka Reserve Police and three battalions of Kerala Armed Police and 1,200 State police personnel have been camping in the district for more than a week.

As part of the security arrangements, 56 jeeps would be utilized specifically for law and order and another 40 vehicles for group patrolling in the city. All these groups have been equipped with video cameras to record the identity of persons involved in any incidents. There would also be a striking force consisting of 15-20 police personnel under each sub-division to manage any violent mobs. Fifteen sensitive booths and 36 vulnerable booths have been identified in the city. Most of them are at Marad, Beypore, Kunnamangalam, Elathoor, Kakkodi and areas of the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, Mr. Venkatesh said.

The Central Election Commission has appointed 11 observers in Kozhikode district to conduct the polls in a fair manner. The general public and representatives of political parties can file their complaints, if any, regarding the elections.

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