Kaski Residents Surrender Licensed Firearms Ahead of Upcoming By-elections

Pokhara. As the date for the House of Representatives by-election on Falgun 21 approaches, 77 licensed firearms held for private use in Kaski have been surrendered to the District Administration Office. Assistant Chief District Officer Chitrangat Baral informed that this number of weapons was collected based on the public notice issued to surrender licensed firearms by Magh 20.

The local administration had urged weapon owners to surrender their licensed firearms with the objective of conducting the election in a peaceful and fear-free environment. Assistant Chief District Officer Baral stated that failure to comply with the notice would result in action according to prevailing laws.

“Most of the weapons looted during the *Jenji* demonstration have also been returned. Weapons held with permission by individuals have also been submitted,” he said. “There is no risk of any kind in Kaski from the perspective of election security; the security arrangement is robust.”

The District Administration Office has stated that based on the receipt provided upon surrender, these weapons will be returned to the respective individuals after Chaitra 20. Assistant Chief District Officer Baral mentioned that the local administration and security agencies are working to make the district's peace and security tight and effective, targeting the election. According to him, 957 police personnel and 2,800 election police will be deployed for election security in Kaski.

Under the integrated security plan, Nepal Police and Election Police will be deployed in the inner security cordon of the polling stations. The District Security Committee announced that the Armed Police Force will be deployed in the second layer of security, and the Nepali Army in the outer layer. Kaski, which has three constituencies, has 153 polling stations. The District Election Office stated that the district has the highest number of voters in Gandaki Province, totaling 308,572.