The Chief Electoral Officer of Puducherry, T. Sreekanth, on Friday said that the airport at Puducherry and seaport at Karaikal had been brought under the close vigil of election officials to prevent illegal transportation of cash and liquor.
Speaking to The Hindu here he said each and every flight and cargo vessel would be closely monitored. If needed, the flying squad would carry out searches. Scheduled and unscheduled flights would also be monitored.
The details of all ships berthed at the port and commodities unloaded or loaded would be collected.
The idea was to lock all possible ways to prevent illegal transportation of unaccounted cash and liquor so as to induce voters.
He said services of the Coast Guard and the marine police had also been roped in to monitor the movement of boats and vessels on the high seas. They would carry out random and surprise check.
Mr. Sreekanth said that flying squads had been instructed to record entire proceedings of party workers’ meetings, campaign and open meetings.
The footage would be utilised not only for tracking down hate speeches but also collecting inputs for expenditure incurred for meetings. If the parties violated any model code of conduct, cases would be taken against them.
On the issue of candidates and others canvassing at night, he said that there was no bar for them to seek votes either in the day or night. But, they cannot use public address system after 10 p.m. Similarly, they should not cause inconvenience to people.
Stating that tight vigil would be maintained on those carrying out campaign, Mr. Sreekantha said 36 flying squads had been formed to monitor violations round-the-clock. They would closely monitor clandestine activities of political parties, candidates, agents and others.
The vehicles, including those of political persons, very important persons would also be checked randomly by static surveillance teams and flying squads, keeping in view the judgment of the Supreme Court.
As many as 103 complaints have been received by the election authorities regarding code of conduct violations. Of them, 87 cases were registered. Four companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel had already arrived in Puducherry. More CAPF personnel would reach Puducherry days before the poll day.
