The police and local administration witnessed a massive shake-up with the transfer of 205 Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs) and Officers-in-Charge (OCs) of 338 Police Stations across the country ahead of the 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) election slated for January 7, 2024.
This massive changes in the law-enforcement agencies and local administration has been made in a bid to hold the polls in free and fair manner through ensuring level-playing-field for all the candidates as well as security to all the voters.
Officials concerned said many more UNOs and OCs may be transferred ahead the polls while Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs) will also transferred if the EC desires.
In the latest development, the EC on Thursday approved the proposals to transfer of 158 UNOs and OCs of 338 Police Station across the country.
Officials of the EC confirmed the information following a meeting on Thursday.
With these latest approvals by the EC, so far 205 UNOs and 338 OCs have been transferred centring the 12th JS election.
Earlier on Wednesday, a list of 338 OCs from the Ministry of Home Affairs and another list of 110 UNOs from the Ministry of Public
Administration were sent to the EC for transferring them to smoothly conduct the JS polls.
Besides, another list of 48 UNOs were sent to the EC from the ministry on Thursday.
Earlier on 4 December, the EC approved the transfer of 47 other UNOs.
It should be mentioned that the EC on October 30 asked the Ministry og Home Affairs and the Ministry of Public Administration to transfer OCs of all the Police Stations and UNOs of all the Upazilas across the country in view of holding the JS polls fair and ensuring of lavel-playing field for all the candidates and voters.
The EC had also directed the ministries concerned to seek its permission for transferring OCs stationed in the same workplace for more than six months and UNOs stationed in the same workplace for more than a year.
Ashok Kumar Devnath, Additional Secretary of the EC, on December 4 had said in the first phase, approximately 320 OCs and 250 UNOs might be transferred.
Not only the shuffle in the local administration and law-enforcement agencies, in view of holding the JS polls fair and checking of violence, the EC decided to deploy around 7.5 lakh personnel from different law-enforcement and security agencies like Police, RAB, BGB, Ansar and Coast Guard.
A large contingent of Army persommel may also be deployed.
Moreover, the EC has formed 300 Pre-election Judicial Enquiry Committees to maintain electoral code of conduct while 802 executive magistrates have been deployed across the country in this regard.
This time
After primary verification from December 1 to December 4, the returning officers across the country announced 1,985 candidates valid and 731 others invalid.
However, many of the invalid candidates have been appealing before the EC to get their candidacies back.
The number of total voters is 11,96,91633 and votes will be cast a total of 42,103 centres across the country.