Cash Withdrawal, Money Transportation To Be Under Election Commission Vigil

GUWAHATI: As and when the notification for the general election is issued, the Election Commission of India will keep a close watch on activities like withdrawal of cash from banks, transportation of cash money etc.

Addressing the media in Guwahati on Friday, State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) MC Sahu said: “According to the guidelines of the Election Commission of India, we’re going to keep close watch on withdrawal of cash from banks and transportation of cash. All these come under the purview of the model codes of conduct. There will be many more matters to come under our vigil. We’ve already talked to departments like Income Tax, airports, Railways, Narcotic Bureau, Excise Department etc. If anybody is found guilty under the poll code, we’ll act according to the law.”

On adherence to the model poll codes of conduct, Sahu said: “There’re two/three static surveillance teams in each Legislative Assembly segment, apart from mobile surveillance teams and VDO surveillance teams to monitor any violation of the model codes of conduct. Even the general public can lodge complaints if they have any knowledge on violation of model codes of conduct.”

When asked if additional forces would be needed in the State during the poll, Sahu said: “We need more forces. However, we can’t say the exact number of forces now. We can say this only after the number of phases of the election is known. We’ve already talked to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on security aspects. We’ve already done vulnerability mapping district wise. It’s a continuous process. Areas identified as vulnerable will be under strict vigil.”

When asked if the officials engaged in NRC duty would be deployed in election duty, Sahu said: “The ECI has already exempted such officials from election duty. We’ve circulated the ECI’s directive to all departments.”

When asked if the government’s advertisement hoardings would be allowed to stay after the notification of the general election, Sahu said: “They’ll have to be removed. If the departments concerned don’t remove them, district teams will remove them.”

He said that all licenced arms have to be deposited to the arms holders’ respective police stations.

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