Police ready to ensure free, fair elections, says DGP Gautam Sawang

Vijayawada : Director general of police (DGP) D Gautam Sawang said the police department was well prepared for the panchayat polls to be held in 655 mandals in four phases on February 9, 13,17 and 21 respectively.

He said the polls will be held for 1,30,749 panchayat wards in 13,133 village panchayats in the state. Addressing the media at the state police office on Saturday, the DGP said the police had identified 8,555 sensitive villages and 6,254 hyper sensitive villages in the state and added that utmost care was being taken to maintain law and order in these villages.

Sawang said the police department would use drones, body cameras to keep vigil on the anti-social elements and to ensure free and fair elections. Unauthorised weapons would be seized and the police bound over 1,47,391 persons and booked 12,779 other cases related to bandobust.

He said clear instructions were given to the police in the ground level to prevent any untoward incident and ensure maintenance of law and order during the polling. He said 1,122 route mobile parties formed and 199 check posts were installed as part of the polling security in the state.

The DGP informed that Special Enforcement Bureau stepped up vigil to check the flow of liquor and cash. So far no untoward incident related to the polls had taken place in the state and the police were on duty in the ground level, he added.