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Maharashtra Police ready for the polls

The Maharashtra Police is fully geared up for the forthcoming elections in the state and has made adequate arrangements to foil any attempts by ISI-backed terrorists to disrupt the poll process.

Chief Electoral Officer D K Sankaran today said additional deployment would be made in sensitive constituencies and his office is working in close co-ordination with the police department to identify such areas.

Taking into consideration the post-Kargil scenario and the stepped up activities of the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence, the security agencies are taking extra precautions. "We are committed to conduct free and fair polls in the states," Additional Director General of Police (law and order) S S Puri said. He added that several ISI agents have been arrested in Bombay and Pune.

Tight security is being maintained in the island city of Bombay where several sensitive booths are located.

Bombay's Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) D Shivanandan expressed confidence that his men were capable of facing any eventuality.

Simultaneous polls to the state assembly and Parliament will be held in two phases on September 5 and September 11. While there are 48 parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra, there are 288 assembly segments.

There are around 75,000 booths in the state and a few hundred of them have been identified as 'hyper sensitive' and 'sensitive'. Police sources said these sensitive booths are spread across Bombay city and its suburbs and the Naxalite-infested districts of Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Bhandara and Nandurbar. Certain areas bordering Madhya Pradesh have also been marked 'sensitive'.

"We are aware of the increased activity of the Left-wing extremists. In deploying our forces we have taken into account such contingencies," Puri said.

He said around 125,000 officers and men of the Maharashtra Police would be deployed throughout the state. Apart from this, around 50,000 personnel from the Home Guards, civil defence and forest guards as well as the National Cadet Corps will be deployed.

A senior official said the police are also co-ordinating with the Coast Guard and other law-enforcing agencies.

UNI

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