Polls nigh, Assam police still somnolent

Over 5,700 NBWs yet to be executed

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, March 14: With less than a fortnight left for assembly elections, Assam police is yet to execute 5,798 non-bailable warrants. Official sources revealed that so far only 1,073 non-bailable warrants have been executed A court issues an arrest warrant during the trial process. According to the Code of Crimil Procedure, every such warrant remains in force until it is executed or is cancelled by the court that issued it. One of the basic rules of conducting peaceful polls is to bring down the number of pending arrest warrants by conducting special drives ahead of the elections. This prevents political parties from using crimils to intimidate voters. However, a lax Assam police has been sluggish in adhering to the norm.  So far, altogether 7,012 licensed arms have been deposited with the police. Security forces have also seized 21 illegal weapons and three bombs in the run-up to the elections.

Meanwhile, Election Commission sources said every candidate will have to open a separate bank account for transaction related to his campaign expenditure. The expenditure limit of each candidate is Rs 28 lakh.

“Expenditure observers will monitor the transactions of the account,” the sources said.