Security forces and agencies have started area sanitisation and have been identifying strategic locations for the accommodation of additional forces who will ensure safe elections in Jammu And Kashmir. Specialised units will be deployed in hypersensitive areas and deployment work is under process in view of threat from terror outfits, sources have told News18.
According to a senior police official who has been supervising the security arrangements in J&K, various government buildings, schools, and other establishments have been identified for the forces. Meanwhile, forces that have reached their respective locations have started area familiarisation and pre-poll preparations.
Importantly, a top official claimed that to gather information from the ground, additional intelligence officers have been deployed. In the past 48 hours, security forces and Jammu and Kashmir police have successfully acted on inputs and executed operations.
Since there is a possibility of new hideouts and infiltration, senior officers have been asked to plan visits to the borders and maintain vigilance in border areas. They have been instructed to visit areas frequently and coordinate with the BSF. The local police have also sought assistance from different communities, and Village Defence Committees have been asked to monitor any suspicious individuals. A senior police official said that to assist locals, single-point contacts have been provided. In case of any suspicious activity, they can directly reach out to these contacts.
The deployment of forces will be organised so they can reach any area in a very limited time during election deployment. To secure booths, forces will sanitise all booths in hypersensitive areas prior to polling, and troops will be deployed there. All booths in these areas will have CAPF jawans. Specialised units will be deployed in hypersensitive areas, covering multiple locations and being responsible for operations. Additionally, EVM machines will have an extra layer of security.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has instructed forces to retain more than 500 companies currently deployed for the Amarnath Yatra for ‘advance deployment.’ This means that over 50,000 troops from the Central Armed Police Forces, who are already in J&K, will be deployed for the elections. Additional troops will be deployed later, including those providing protection to candidates. This deployment will be part of the advance preparations for the election, focusing on area domination and familiarisation.
The election in Jammu and Kashmir will be conducted in three phases over 14 days, which is nearly half the length of the election schedule seen in the erstwhile state in 2014 or just a few months ago in the Lok Sabha elections. The elections in J&K will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1, with results to be declared on October 4. Therefore, the total election schedule will be 14 days for polling and 17 days if the counting date is included.
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