No chance for ballot snatching in upcoming election: Home Adviser

Home Adviser Lieutenant General (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said there is no possibility of ballot snatching from polling stations in the upcoming national election, as around nine lakh members from law enforcement agencies will be deployed ahead of the polls.

“No scope of snatching votes this time as unprecedented security measures have been put in place,” he said.

He made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the quarterly crime review and views-exchange meeting organised by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police at the CID headquarters in Dhaka on Thursday.

Jahangir Alam Chowdhury expressed confidence that the upcoming election would be the most free, fair, transparent, impartial, peaceful and festive election in the country’s history, setting an example for the future.

He emphasised that achieving this goal would require absolute honesty, neutrality and professionalism from all officials and law enforcement agencies involved.

He said a record number of approximately nine lakh law enforcement personnel will be deployed during the election.

Alongside them, members of BNCC, Girls Guides and Scouts will assist the law enforcers, he said.

Mentioning that law enforcement deployment will take place in two phases, he said that personnel already deployed in the first phase will remain in place, while a second, vote-centric deployment will run for seven days from 8 to 14 February to ensure law and order nationwide.

The Home Adviser said that unlike previous elections—where only one-armed police member was deployed at each polling station—this time at least five-armed law enforcement personnel will be stationed at every polling centre.

These will include two armed police members and three armed Ansar personnel, he said.

At important polling stations, six armed members, including three armed police, will be deployed, he continued.

In addition, he said that 10-unarmed Ansar members equipped with sticks will be assigned to each polling station, comprising six male and four female members.

Highlighting new initiatives, he said this election will, for the first time, include specialised training for law enforcement personnel, the use of body-worn cameras, installation of CCTV cameras, deployment of drones and dog squads, and other modern security measures.

The adviser also noted that expatriate voters, government officials and employees, election-duty officials, and members of law enforcement agencies will be able to cast their votes through registration on the “Postal Vote BD” app.

The CID Chief and Additional Inspector General of Police (IGP) Md Sibgat Ullah presided over the programme, while IGP Baharul Alam attended as the special guest.

At the event, the Home Adviser also distributed awards among CID officers of various ranks in recognition of their outstanding professional performance.