Guwahati: The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has implemented Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the election-bound state of Tripura from 10 p.m. on February 13 to 6 a.m. on February 17.
CEO Kiran Gitte spoke to the media during a press briefing and said that tough measures were being implemented to avoid any unfavourable law and order situations given the likelihood of a fiercely contested assembly election.
He said, “We have taken various steps to prevent any law and order issue. Before December around 100 companies of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) arrived in Tripura. Before the declaration of election another 100 companies arrived, while after the January 18, a further 200 companies arrived here which we have deployed across Tripura. Along with that we have more than 20, 000 police and TSR deployed for security purposes across the state.”
Additionally, the Chief Electoral Officer noted that less violent occurrences have occurred in Tripura this year compared to last year. He stated that there were around 309 such violent occurrences reported in 2018, but as of February 11th, Tripura had only officially recorded 100 violent incidents.
CEO Gitte said, “We don’t want any violence in Tripura and for that reason the number of cases registered is very low. We have also given permission of holding 800 programs and campaigns per day. However, campaigning will be allowed to continue only till 4 PM.”
“Some sporadic incidents took place in areas like Border Gol Chakkar, the Airport area, Khayerpur, Belonia, and Sepahijala district, but due to heavy deployment of security forces, no big incidents were reported this time in Tripura,” he added.
Gitte also urged journalists to observe the rules when the CEO’s office implements Section 144.
He said, “Then from the 14th at 10 pm to the 17th at 6 am section 144 will continue. We are allowing door-to-door visits with only four persons however no bike rallies can take place.”