Surveillance on money, arms flow beefed up

Hyderabad: Special surveillance at railway stations, bus stations, prime junctions and banks has been firmed up. Five special surveillance teams have been set up in each assembly constituency to implement the code of conduct.

This will include flying squads, static surveillance teams, video surveillance teams, video viewing teams and accounting teams, said Hyderabad District Election Officer and GHMC Commissioner Dana Kishore here on Thursday.

In a special video conference, Gopala Mukherjee, the special cost monitoring commissioner appointed by the Central Election Commission, said that the aim of the conference was to beef up surveillance as there was a chance of money distribution to influence the voters, as the state had only a week-long period of Lok Sabha elections.

He added that in the recent Assembly elections there was a low percentage of cases of money seizure compared to the previous Assembly elections in the state. He observed that there was a need for special attention to curb illegal money transportation. Especially at night time, surveillance must be stronger.

Mukherjee also called for special surveillance teams and mechanism at railway stations, bus stations, prime junctions and banks. The police and nodal officers should work closely and ensure good coordination. He drew attention of officials to keep tabs on social media and paid news.

At least three flying squads, static surveillance teams and video surveillance teams in each assembly constituency are set up. Each static team will be working under supervision of a senior executive magistrate.

District Election Commissioners Vinay Chowdary, Ateeq Ahmad, Ameed Jain, Hemanth Kumar and Additional Commissioner Kennedy participated in this video conference.