JANAKPUR, Nov 21: With violent attacks targeting poll candidates in many hill districts across the country, candidates in Province-2 have been feeling greater anxiety over their security.
Influential party leaders have demanded that the administration provide them with personal security officers (PSOs), according to police.
Following bomb attacks and ambushes targeting candidates in other districts, police have intensified security checkings in various districts of Province-2. According to Dhanusha police chief SP Chakra Bahadur Singh, police have recovered three illegal weapons including pistols in the past week.
Police detained seven individuals with the three pistols from Sabaila in Hangsapur Municipality and Ramananda Chowk of Janakpur Metropolitan City, according to SP Singh. Though the pistols are homemade, they can be used with the same ammunition as SLR (self-loading rifle).
NRB increases minimum paid-up capital threshold for PSOs and PS...
Security agencies have stepped up vigilance in the district following seizure of the weapons.
Three incumbent ministers, a former deputy prime minister and home minister and seven other former ministers are in the election fray in Dhanusha district which goes to parliamentary and provincial assembly polls on December 7.
Likewise, over a dozen former lawmakers are contesting the parliamentary and provincial assembly polls.
Among them, only former DPM Bimalendra Nidhi and incumbent ministers Ram Chandra Yadav, Mahendra Yadav and Ramsingh Yadav have PSOs for their safety. According to SP Singh, other senior leaders have also been asking for security during the polls.
“Though the candidates have been asking for PSOs we don't have enough manpower to provide such security to all candidates. However, we are managing the required amount of security,” he added. “If we start providing PSOs to all the candidates we won't have enough manpower for safety at the polling centers.”
The district police office has been providing security for poll campaigns from nearby police posts and encircling the residences of candidates during the night, according to him. Police have asked the candidates to park their vehicles near the police stations as anti-poll elements have been hurdling explosives at the vehicles.
Following recent bomb explosions in Rautahat district injuring eight people, the anxiety among candidates and party leaders has increased in other Madhes districts also.
Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) candidate Uma Shankar Agariya said he is feeling a security threat from rivals due to his popularity among the voters of Dhanusha-2. “Opponents can resort to any action,” he said adding however that he doesn't need any PSO as people in his constituency are ready to see to his safety.
The Election Commission has designated 327 polling centers in Dhanusha, of which 222 have been identified as highly sensitive, and police have intensified surveillance in those areas, said Singh.
Sensitive polling centers have been identified near the Indian border, remote settlements along the Kamala River and some areas in the Chure hills, according to police. “Criminal activities generally increase around the time of polls. We will mobilize personnel and technology to the maximum,” SP Singh said.
