5 lakh 17 thousand 143 members of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defense Forces have been deployed across the country to maintain law and order, ensure the security of polling stations and ballot boxes and maintain order in voting in the 12th National Assembly elections.
The director general of the force, Major General AKM Aminul Haque, gave this information in a press conference organized at the headquarters of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defense Force in Khilgaon of the capital on Friday (January 05).
He said, according to the instructions of the Election Commission, 5 lakh 5 thousand 788 general Ansar and VDP members have been deployed to maintain law and order and security of ballot boxes in 42 thousand 149 polling stations across the country.
He also said that already 250 platoon Ansar battalion members divided into 1000 sections are deployed as a striking force for 13 days from December 29 to January 10. Except for the 13 coastal upazilas, one striking team of Ansar battalion is carrying out the duties according to the plan of the concerned returning officer to keep the election environment free, fair and peaceful. Also, 2 thousand 855 officials are engaged in the election.
The Director General said that a total of 12 Ansar and VDP members will be responsible for the security of the election centers. They will consist of six male and four female VDP members headed by a Platoon Commander (PC) and an Assistant Platoon Commander (APC). PCs and APCs with weapons and VDP members with sticks will be engaged in maintaining security and law and order at the polling stations.
He said that every member of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defense Force has been instructed to work as per the instructions of the Election Commission to present a free, fair and acceptable election to the nation. Members of Ansar VDP have taken effective steps to ensure the security environment so that common people can come to the polling station with great enthusiasm without fear. They are instructed to strive to perform their assigned duties with utmost care and devotion.
He also said that in the last 11th National Assembly elections, 482 thousand 238 members of Ansar and VDP were deployed to protect the security and law and order of 40 thousand 199 polling stations across the country. At that time five Ansar and VDP members were killed and 17 members were injured while performing election duties.
In response to a question from journalists, he said that the law and order forces are ready all the time. Those who are anti-election want to question the election. Will try to run different activities. We are aware. We are capable of eradicating vandalism.
When asked whether there is any threat of security disruption of railway and KPI installations, the Ansar chief said, operations are being carried out to prevent vandalism and the movement of common people, these activities will continue. The security that we had in the KPI deployment will be deployed. 15 thousand 700 members are working in railway security. All those who performed the duties are outside the electoral duty.
