A total of 106 out of 126 polling centres of Barisal City Corporation (BCC) elections are risky, Barisal Metropolitan Police (BMP) Commissioner Saiful Islam has said.
“Some 70 centers are important according to the police. However, in response to candidates' concerns, we have included additional centers. As a result, a total of 106 polling centers are now regarded as important,” he said at a press conference on Saturday.
Law enforcement agencies, such as the police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), are firmly committed to ensuring the elections are conducted in a fair manner, he added.
The officer further added that a total of 4,500 policemen will be deployed to deal with any kind of situation during the polls. Each centre will have six to seven policemen and 12 Ansar members.
“We have formed 51 mobile teams in 30 wards targeting the polling centres. One striking force will be in charge of each ward. Apart from this, 10 standby teams have been kept with the total force,” he added.
BCC polls are slated for Monday.
The election will see 167 candidates competing, including seven vying for a single mayoral post, 118 candidates for 30 general ward councillor posts, and 42 women for 10 reserved female ward councillor positions.
Polling will take place in 894 booths across 126 centres in 30 BCC wards. The total number of voters in this city corporation is 276,298, including 138,809 women and 137,489 men.
Our Barisal correspondent Anisur Rahman Swapan contributed to the report
