Special poll observer flags 'disparity' in ECI and CEO's reports on sensitive booths in Bengal
Kolkata, April 3 (IANS) The different findings on the number of sensitive booths in West Bengal in the reports of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) seem to have surprised the special observer for West Bengal for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, Alok Sinha.
Sources in the CEO's office said that Sinha pointed out the differences in the two reports at a meeting with the top officials of the state poll panel on Wednesday.
For example, while the CEO office's report puts the percentage of sensitive booths in the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha constituency at 72 per cent, the ECI's findings show 85 per cent, the sources said.
Sinha has also stressed that the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in any constituency will be made based on the ECI's findings on sensitive booths in that particular seat.
The sources also said that Sinha has stressed the immediate execution of non-bailable arrest warrants, seeking prompt action by the police in arresting those with criminal records.
The execution of non-bailable arrest warrants has been a contentious issue in West Bengal. By the middle of March, the total number of such warrants which are yet to be executed stood at over 30,000.
--IANS
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