Jamuna TV Photo

Source: Jamuna TV

DST News: Law enforcement agencies have proposed to remain deployed in the field for eight days before and after the upcoming national parliamentary elections. Senior Secretary Akhter Ahmed said that the proposal came during a consultation meeting between the Election Commission (EC) and the security forces.

The meeting began at 10:30 a.m. on Monday (October 20) at the Election Building in Agargaon, Dhaka, and lasted for about two hours.

Attending the meeting were the Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, representatives of the chiefs of the three armed forces, the Inspector General of Police, Director Generals of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Ansar and VDP, National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC), National Security Intelligence (NSI), and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), among others—a total of 18 representatives from law enforcement agencies. Akhter Ahmed said that their proposals would be reviewed and examined.

The EC Secretary further stated that none of the participants expressed any concerns about the election environment. Around 90,000 to 100,000 armed forces personnel, approximately 150,000 police officers, and about 600,000 members of the Ansar force are expected to be deployed during the election period.

He also mentioned that the use of drones for election campaigning will not be allowed, although law enforcement agencies will be exempt from this restriction.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has previously said that it aims to hold the 13th national parliamentary elections before Ramadan in February, that is, within the first half of the month. To that end, the election schedule is expected to be announced in early December.