BAJURA, Nov 13: The District Security Committee (DSC), Bajura, has listed 31 of the 70 polling stations in the district as highly sensitive. The committee headed by the chief district officer (CDO) has categorized 31 polling stations as sensitive in terms of security in view of the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections scheduled for November 26.
There are four municipalities and five rural municipalities in the district. Jagdish Prasad Bhatta, DSP at the District Police Office informed Republica that only eight polling stations of the district are free from any risk. There are altogether 100 polling centers in the district. In the recently held local elections, there were 92 polling centers in the district which have now been increased to 100 considering the number of voters, informed Election Officer Subhadra Gautam.
27 polling stations in Rukum marked as highly 'sensitive'
According to police officials, security has been beefed up at the sensitive polling stations in order to avoid anti-election activities. These polling stations have been marked as sensitive due to difficult topography, and the lack of access to telephone, electricity and transportation. Besides this, anti-election campaigns of the Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN-Maoist have also posed security threats for the polls.
During the local elections, 42 polling stations of the district were marked highly sensitive. According to sources, at least 15 temporary police personnel, seven Nepal Police personnel along with some Armed Police force personnel will be deployed at each polling station. A total of 646 temporary police personnel will be mobilized across the district but the number of other security personnel has not been revealed yet.
With the objective of making the elections peaceful and systematic, the buying and selling of liquor will be banned completely in the district from November 17. The DSC took this decision so as to avoid unnecessary disputes and arguments which may lead to serious controversies during the elections. Security has been beefed up in the border areas in order to make sure that no liquor enters the district through the borders. If anyone is found buying and selling alcohol during elections, or making any attempt to foil the elections, the DSC has warned of taking stern action against them.
