Bhubaneswar, May 12: With the Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls round the corner, DGP Arun Kumar Sarangi today said that Odisha Police is fully geared up for a smooth, impartial, free and fair elections.
Addressing a presser, DGP Sarangi said interstate border check posts, inter district border check posts have been in place and nine coordination meetings with neighboring states have been held at DGP level.
In fourth phase, four Parliamentary constituencies and 28 Assembly segments under them will go to polls tomorrow. The Lok Sabha seats where the elections will be held in the fourth phase are Nabarangpur, Koraput, Kalahandi, and Berhampur, and 28 assembly segments under these constituencies.
Voting will be done at a total of 7,289 polling stations including 537 in naxal-affected locations. A total of 17,000 security personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order situation. Apart from this, EVM strong rooms have been established at 15 locations and are being guarded round the clock in a two-tiered security system, said Sarangi.
To tackle any kind of illegal activities on social media, a Social Media Monitoring Cell in every district and at state level a Social Media Monitoring & Cyber Security Unit are functioning under the supervision of IG of Police CID-CB. So far, 111 social media related complaints have been received and 350 contents have been removed. Five cases have been registered and one person has been arrested. A total of 643 social media handles are under surveillance, said Sarangi.
To ensure free and fair and inducement free poll, police has stepped up enforcement activities. Since January 1, 2024, as many as seven persons have been booked under the National Security Act (NSA), a total of 233 illegal arms along with 112 cartridges, 113 bombs and 1530 explosives have been seized. Also, three illegal arms manufacturing units have been busted, added Sarangi.
A total of 4,50,000 liters of illegal liquor have been seized along with the registration of 22,000 cases and arrest of 3,428 persons in this connection. Similarly, 725 quintals of ganja and 4.5 kilograms of brown sugar have also been seized and 1,048 persons have been arrested. Also, Rs 4.1 crores cash have been seized so far, Sarangi said.
Notably, the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha will be held simultaneously in four phases -- May 13, 20, 25, and June 1. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.
