Over 8,200 polling stations under tight security for municipal polls: DGP

Hyderabad: Director General of Police (DGP) Shivadhar Reddy on Tuesday said elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure smooth and peaceful polling for the municipal elections across the state, barring Hyderabad, where the model code of conduct (MCC) is not in force.

The MCC has been in effect since Jan 27 in all districts except Hyderabad, following the announcement of elections to seven municipal corporations and 116 municipalities across the state.

Of the 8,203 polling stations, 1,302 have been categorised as hypersensitive, 1,926 as sensitive and 4,975 as normal.

The DGP said the election code has been effectively implemented across Telangana, with additional forces deployed to maintain law and order. Around 3,000 personnel drawn from various departments have been mobilised exclusively for election duty, apart from the police. He added that 100% webcasting has been arranged at all polling stations to ensure transparency and real-time monitoring.

Urging voters to exercise their franchise freely and without fear, the DGP said extensive preventive and enforcement measures had been taken ahead of polling. As part of election security measures, the police have seized 1,183 licensed firearms and bound over 4,318 individuals. As many as 398 non-bailable warrants have also been executed so far.

To curb the movement of illegal cash and other inducements, 20 check-posts have been set up along the borders with four neighbouring states, while 55 check-posts are operational across various districts within Telangana. In addition, 181 flying squads have been deployed.

The DGP added that authorities have seized 3.09 crore till Tuesday and registered 142 cases related to violations of the MCC. Of the total seizures, cash amounted to 1.29 crore, liquor worth 1.21 crore, drugs worth 15.7 lakh, freebies worth 13 lakh, and precious metals worth 28.6 lakh.

He also said that to ensure effective implementation of the MCC, training programmes were conducted across the state at the Station House Officer, circle, division and unit levels.

Referring to the recent fire accident at the State Forensic Science Laboratory, the DGP said a few people were making false allegations that evidence related to a sensational case reported in 2015 was destroyed in the fire. He clarified that all evidence had been submitted to the court in 2021 itself. Experts from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Pune, the National Institute of Fire Safety Engineering, Nagpur, and the state FSL are probing the cause of the fire. He added that technical experts are currently engaged in retrieving and analysing digital data.

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