With only a few days left for the panchayat elections, the police are making arrangements for peaceful conduct of polling in Krishna district. Elections will be conducted for 10,904 wards in 969 gram panchayats in three phases.
The police are on the job of binding persons with criminal history and trouble mongers held in previous poll-related incidents. The police are holding ‘gram sabhas’ and appealing to the villagers to cooperate with them for peaceful conduct of the elections. According to Krishna district Superintendent of Police J. Prabhakara Rao, about 1,200 history sheeters are there in the district and about 200 Non-Bailable Warrants (NBWs) are pending. Sixty per cent of the history sheeters have been bound over under Section 110 (e) Cr.PC so far.
Sensitive areas
The district administration has identified 166 hypersensitive, 214 sensitive villages and seven inaccessible hamlets. An armed police picket with five police personnel will be deployed in hypersensitive areas and a police camp with three policemen will be arranged in all sensitive villages.
Routes have been divided covering all villages in the mandals and static forces, special striking forces, striking forces headed by Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP), Circle-Inspectors (CIs) and mobile parties will be deputed to prevent any untoward incident. Web casting and videography will be arranged in all sensitive villages.
About 600 Armed Reserve (AR) and Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP) battalions will be deployed. They will be in addition to 1,000 constables, 500 head constables, 200 home guards and women police force, DSPs, CIs and Sub-Inspectors to be put on election duty. Station House Officers (SHOs) have been asked to execute the NBWs immediately.
The police are holding meetings with the leaders of political parties and the village heads.