With just three days to go before the parliamentary election and the referendum, around 10 lakh members of various forces have been formally deployed since Sunday to maintain security nationwide.
Personnel from the Army, Police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP), among others, will remain on election duty for seven days until 14 February, covering both the pre- and post-polling period.
Voting will take place on 12 February.
From guarding polling centres to operating as mobile and striking forces, all personnel will work under the authority of returning officers. Members of the armed forces have also been deployed to support the civil administration.
According to Election Commission (EC) data, 970,948 security personnel have been engaged in election duties since Sunday.
The deployment includes 100,003 personnel from the Army, 5,000 from the Navy, 3,730 from the Air Force, 37,453 from the BGB, 3,585 from the Coast Guard, 187,603 police personnel, 9,349 members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and 576,483 members of the Ansar and VDP. In addition, 1,922 BNCC cadets and 45,820 village police members, including chowkidars and dafaders, are on duty.
Alongside law enforcement agencies, 1,051 executive magistrates will also remain deployed across the country until 14 February.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told journalists that the Army had been deployed earlier, with additional personnel joining on Sunday.
He said law enforcement agencies would operate in coordination with returning officers, while the EC’s central coordination cell would monitor developments, with real-time updates available through its dedicated security app.
Assuring that all measures had been taken to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted voting process, the commissioner said ballot boxes had already reached districts nationwide and were being received by returning officers.
“Everyone is now busy with election preparations. We are ready, and once campaigning ends, voters will also be ready for a festive election. The commission believes the voting environment is fully conducive, and the law-and-order situation is under control,” he said.
Earlier, on 7 January, the home ministry said in a circular that police, BGB, Ansar-VDP and Coast Guard personnel were being deployed to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election, while the armed forces were mobilised to assist the civil administration.
Under the circular, outside metropolitan areas, 16 to 17 security personnel will be posted at each general polling centre and 17 to 18 at centres identified as “vulnerable”.
In metropolitan areas, 16 members will be deployed at general centres and 17 at vulnerable centres. In remote areas across 25 districts, 16 to 18 personnel will be stationed at each centre from two days before polling until the end of voting on election day.
