Police Headquarters to Deploy Additional Forces for House of Representatives Election Security
Kathmandu. The Police Headquarters is set to deploy additional support in districts for the security of the House of Representatives elections. Additional police personnel will be mobilized from the center to secure the 10,967 polling stations for the House of Representatives election scheduled for Falgun 21.
One high-ranking official from the Police Headquarters told Ratopati that approximately 13,000 police personnel are being mobilized as additional support. The Police Headquarters has already deployed 44 DSPs and 110 Inspectors in the first phase. The Police Headquarters plans to deploy an additional 100 DSPs and 400 Inspectors.
Police Spokesperson (DIG) Abe Narayan Kafle told Ratopati that the officers deployed in the first phase reached the field on Monday. He stated, 'The officers deployed in the first phase have already reached the field.'
The police officers to be deployed as additional support will come from the battalions, groups under the Valley Police Office, and those dispatched from the Police Headquarters. More police will be deployed in the districts of Madhes and Lumbini Province, which have many highly sensitive polling stations.
Police consider the districts in the Terai region, from Jhapa to Kailali, challenging from an election security perspective.
Madhes Province has the highest number of highly sensitive polling stations. In the 8 districts of Madhes Province, 1,246 polling stations are listed as highly sensitive. In Lumbini, 462 polling stations, and in Sudurpaschim, 481 polling stations are listed as highly sensitive.
In Koshi Province, 439 polling stations are listed as highly sensitive. In the 10 districts of Bagmati Province, 354 polling stations are listed as highly sensitive. In Gandaki Province, 328, and in Karnali Province, 358 polling stations are listed as highly sensitive.
According to the Police Headquarters, 73,000 police personnel will be mobilized for election security under the Integrated Security Plan. The police will mobilize 133,980 election police personnel, and the Armed Police Force will mobilize 15,110 election police personnel. DIG Kafle stated that the available forces will be mobilized for election security.
He added, 'We will mobilize the forces we have to the maximum extent for election security.'
Two Inspectors Per Municipality
Out of the 275 seats for the House of Representatives on Falgun 21, 165 members will be elected through the first-past-the-post system and 110 through the proportional representation system. To ensure tight and fearless election security, the Police Headquarters will deploy two Inspectors per municipality.
DIG Kafle, who is also the police spokesperson, stated that two Inspectors will be assigned to each local level unit. He added, 'A reserve team under the command of a DSP will support them.'
The Central Election Cell has prepared a security strategy where the reserve team will support two to three rural municipalities and the district level as needed. The head of the Election Cell is Additional Inspector General (AIG) Uma Prasad Chaturvedi. DIG Arun Paudel, and Senior Superintendents of Police Dayandhi Gyawali and Subash Chandra Bohara are members of the Election Cell.
A plan has been prepared to deploy 3 Inspectors in sub-metropolitan cities and 4 Inspectors in each metropolitan city for election security. The Police Headquarters is preparing to send the police coming from the center to the constituencies by Falgun 10. DIG Kafle said, 'All police personnel will reach their respective areas within this week.'
Lower-ranking police personnel from Karnali Province will be deployed elsewhere. Since the number is high, lower-ranking police from Karnali will be mobilized to other provinces, but senior officers will be sent there as additional support.
There is a plan to deploy SPs to command districts where DSPs are in command. SPs will command election security in Kalikot, Bajhang, Bajura, and Darchula in Karnali.
Three police personnel and 10 election police will be deployed at highly sensitive sites. A high-ranking police official said, 'If there are additional polling centers at a polling station, 2 police personnel and 4 election police personnel will be added.'
Thirty-one thousand Armed Police Force security personnel will be deployed in the second ring. According to the Integrated Election Security Plan, 79,000 army personnel will be deployed for the election. The army will be deployed in the third ring. Two thousand security personnel from the National Investigation Department will be mobilized for intelligence gathering during the election, a high-ranking official from the National Investigation Department told Ratopati.
In total, 315,000 security personnel, including election police, will be mobilized for the security of polling stations and centers, according to the Integrated Security Plan approved by the Central Security Committee.
This specific news has been automatically translated by AI. As a result, there may be some inaccuracies or language errors.
