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Wednesday, Jan 19, 2011
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EC teams visit trouble-torn areas in West Bengal

Staff Reporter

Kolkata: The six-member special Election Commission team that arrived here to assess the law and order situation in West Bengal visited some of the areas affected by political violence in recent times.

The team split into three smaller groups comprising two officials each on Tuesday. One group went to the North 24 Parganas district and visited the Sashan area which saw a series of political clashes allegedly between supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Trinamool Congress over the past year.

Apart from holding a meeting with district officials, the team members also interacted with the local people and sought their views on the present situation, according to sources in the State Election Commission.

Another team went to Paschim Medinipur district where they held a meeting with the District Magistrate and Superintendents of Police. The members, however, did not visit Lalgarh or Netai and headed straight for Purulia district. There is Maoist presence in both these districts.

The third team visited the trouble-torn areas of Hooghly, Birbhum and Bardhaman districts.

Poll preparedness

Meanwhile, officials of the State Election Commission held a meeting with the State's Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary and senior officers of the Kolkata police to discuss the preparedness of the city police for the coming Assembly elections and training police personnel on how to maintain the model code of conduct during elections.

State Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Kumar Gupta said issues such as the need for special police arrangements for the coming polls were discussed.

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