By Xinhua,
Dhaka : Over 600,000 security personnel, including nearly 50,000 army troops have been deployed across Bangladesh to ensure a smooth election on Monday for a new parliament and government.
Home Ministry officials said Sunday the deployment of law enforcers at polling centers began from 6 a.m. and election materials started to be moved to remote centers under strict security guard.
They said ballot boxes, ballot papers and other materials will be dispatched to remote centers in the three hill districts in southeast by helicopters.
The officials said 80,567 police, Rapid Action Battalion and Armed Police Battalion and 466,000 Ansars (auxiliary law enforcers)were posted across the country, the ever highest number for the election duty. In the capital Dhaka alone, 38, 928 police and Ansars have been deployed, which is also the ever highest.
Besides, nearly 50,000 army men are in place as striking force at district and sub-district headquarters.
Colonel Mohammad Anisuzzaman, director (Operation) of paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), said that the BDR men will be on guard independently in 70 out of 87 frontier sub-districts while with army in 16 frontier sub-districts to make sure no subversive acts take place or terrorists sneak into the country from across the border. Navy will look after security in southeastern Teknaf subdistrict bordering Myanmar.