Take action against those with non-bailable warrants: Deputy EC

Kolkata: Senior officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday instructed the District Magistrates and Police Superintendents from various districts to ensure speedy execution of all non-bailable warrants which are still pending.

Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain held a marathon meeting with various district election officials and police personnel on Saturday afternoon to review the poll preparedness in the state. The ECI officials have asked the district administrative officials to ensure that no criminals, who are potential trouble-mongers, should remain free during the seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Election Commission officials instructed the district election officers to review all the sensitive booths in their respective areas at regular intervals and submit a detailed report to the Commission regarding the same.

The deputy Election Commissioner has expressed dissatisfaction as the District Magistrate of Cooch Behar did not participate in the video conference. The Commission officials held a video conference with all the District Magistrates and Police Superintendents in North Bengal districts which will go to the polls in the first and second phases.

It was learnt from sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) that the deputy Election Commissioner asked the election officers from North Dinajpur, Birbhum, Murshidabad and North 24-Parganas to be extra cautious.

All the District Magistrates and Police Superintendents who were present in the meeting in the city were asked by the Commission not to engage those officers who are accused of being 'partial'. The DMs and SPs will be liable to take responsibilities if any such officers are engaged in the poll process under their respective jurisdiction. The Commission categorically mentioned that the officers accused of taking side of any political party must be kept out of the poll process.

The deputy Commissioner also took a stock of the overall law order situation in various districts. He also asked the DMs to monitor the route march and area domination by the central forces in the districts. The deputy Election Commissioner also asked the district election officials to prepare and submit the list of subordinate officers if they fail to comply with the instructions.

The District Magistrates have been asked to submit the list of sensitive booths under their jurisdiction. The Commission may issue necessary instructions after going through the list submitted by them.

The Commission also asked all the election officials to ensure that all the banners with photographs of the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister are removed from both government and private premises. It was also learnt from the sources in the CEO office that the deputy Election Commissioner rebuked the four Districts Magistrates and two Police Superintendents.

The deputy Election Commissioner also met Chief Secretary of the state Malay De and Home secretary Atri Bhattacharya in the evening. Various political parties met the deputy Election Commissioner to place their respective demands.

A section of intellectuals including painter Suvaprasanna, economist Abhirup Sarkar, writer Subodh Sarkar also met the deputy Election Commissioner and said that some political parties are insulting the people of Bengal by demanding that all booths be declared as 'super sensitive'.