CCTV coverage at over 90pc of polling centres now: EC

CCTV cameras have now been installed at more than 90 per cent of polling centres across 299 constituencies in the thirteenth national parliamentary election. To maintain law and order, 958,000 members of different forces are currently deployed nationwide.

Election commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah disclosed the information at a press briefing at the election building in Agargaon, Dhaka, two days before polling.

Voting in the thirteenth parliamentary election and referendum will be held on Thursday. Polling in one of the 300 constituencies has been postponed due to the death of a candidate.

A decision had earlier been taken to install CCTV cameras at vulnerable polling centres to ensure security and round-the-clock monitoring among more than 42,000 centres nationwide.

Although Election Commissioner Sanaullah said CCTV coverage has crossed 90 per cent, he could not provide an exact figure on the number of centres where cameras have been installed. He said the precise number would be disclosed on Wednesday.

He also said that, in addition to CCTV cameras, drones and body-worn cameras would be used at various centres as required to ensure a free and fair election.

The press briefing also said that 958,000 members of different forces have been deployed across the country to maintain law and order during the election. Besides, 2,098 executive magistrates and 657 judicial magistrates are on duty.

Election commissioner Sanaullah said, “Such a large force and capacity deployment has never happened in Bangladesh before. Therefore, there is no reason to be concerned about any untoward situation during the election. Even then, if any isolated incident occurs, we are prepared to deal with it.”

He further said that since 13 December ahead of the election, law enforcement agencies have recovered 850 weapons from different parts of the country. “We believe a significant portion of these weapons had been brought in for misuse during the election,” he said.

Election Commissioner Sanaullah also said the Election Commission would brief the media every two hours on the overall election situation on polling day, 12 February.