By-elections 52,000 cops to provide security in 20 constituencies

LAHORE: More than 52,000 Punjab police personnel and officers will perform their duties to ensure peaceful by-elections in 20 constituencies of the 14 districts of Punjab.

Foolproof security arrangements have been ensured in more than 3,100 polling stations in Punjab, said a government spokesperson on Thursday. To ensure 100 percent implementation of the code of conduct of the Election Commission, surety bonds were being taken from the candidates and supporters of all political parties without any discrimination to stop skirmishes and fighting incidents.

There will be a complete ban on aerial firing, keeping private guards, displaying weapons and uprooting the camps and banners of the opponents, and indiscriminate action will be taken against those persons being found involved in such incidents.

Moreover, to handle any untoward incident in these constituencies, the personnel of the reserve force and anti-riot force will remain fully alert. Complete security will be provided for transporting electoral material to the constituencies while secure transportation of ballot boxes will be ensured.

According to the spokesperson, the by-elections will be monitored at the central police office and in control rooms set up at the district level. Furthermore, the police and the local administration were taking indiscriminate action against the violation of the code of conduct laid down by the Election Commission in the ongoing election campaign. For those found involved in violating the law belonging to any political party, strict legal action will be taken against them.

“The Punjab government, police and local administration will provide complete assistance and support to the Election Commission for ensuring complete implementation of the code of conduct along with ensuring the peaceful, transparent and impartial holding of by-elections. The chief secretary and the inspector general of police have assigned a monitoring task to the special branch and the secret agencies to monitor the conduct of the field officers during by-elections,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022