Rural police to deploy 5,000 cops to man polls in Baramati

PUNE: The Pune Rural police will deploy at least 5,000 personnel, including officers, for polling in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday.

For the smooth conduct of voting, the Rural police have, in the past few weeks, externed over 500 criminals from the constituency.
“Moreover, our special squads and the local crime branch (LCB) teams will work in tandem and conduct extensive night and day patrolling in the jurisdiction.They will specifically focus on the remote areas in Bhor and Velhe tehsils where the chances of bogus voting are high,” superintendent of police Sandeep Patil told TOI on Monday.
The district administration has already identified 62 sensitive polling stations. Baramati, Indapur and Bhor assembly constituencies have the highest number of such booths.
“Platoons of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) will man these booths,” Patil added.
The police have also formed tehsil-wise police teams that will visit the booths regularly and randomly.
The jurisdiction of the constituency is 350 square kilometres. It starts from Tamhini ghat in Mulshi tehsil and extends to the last village of Indapur tehsil, sharing boundary with Solapur district.
“Our endeavour is to maintain law and order in the constituency. The polling stations where candidates got over 75% votes and recorded turnout above 90% in 2014 are crucial for us. At these places, we will deploy extra personnel to keep a close watch on illegal activities such as distribution of money, liquor and threatening,” a senior police officer told TOI requesting anonymity.
The Rural police will also deploy additional manpower at the polling booths which are only manned by women election officials.
“We have decided to deploy women personnel at these places. They have been adequately trained and have got specific instructions regarding the handling of voters. The in-charge of each of these booths will report to us on a regular basis,” said the officer.
The riot control team and reserve police force have also been stationed at various locations to provide security in emergency situations. “They are armed with the necessary equipment to control crowds and provide timely communication,” added the officer.