FIR to be lodged against outsiders found in Shahkot after May 26

| | Jalandhar | in Chandigarh

An FIR would be lodged against the outsiders, if any, found in Shahkot assembly segment after the end of campaign on May 26 for bypolls on May 28.

Announcing this while interacting with the representatives of political parties during a meeting, the General Observer for Elections, Ravi Kant Jain, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma and Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar on Wednesday said that in compliance with the Election Commission’s orders, every outsider has to leave Shahkot assembly segment by 6 pm on May 26 — the day when the campaign for the by-poll ends.

They said that any outsider found overstaying in Shahkot after May 26 would be dealt with sternly and FIR would be registered against them. “Strict surveillance on the outsiders would be kept through videography and special flying squads have been constituted for the purpose,” he said.

Soliciting support from the political parties for effective implementation of the guidelines of the Election Commission, the officers said that the administration was committed for providing a level playing field to everyone thereby ensuring free, fair and transparent by-poll. They asked all the political parties to ensure that their star campaigners and workers leave the assembly constituency once the campaign was over. They also said that even no campaign would be allowed after May 26.

They said that in order to ensure free, fair and peaceful polls on May 28, special flying squads, static surveillance teams and mobile patrolling teams have been constituted in the assembly segment.

Likewise, they said that six companies of the Border Security Force along with officers or officials from the Punjab Armed Police and Punjab Police have been deputed for security.

They assured the political parties that no stone would be remained unturned for ensuring that it was able to set a new bench mark by providing a totally free, fair, peaceful, credible, transparent, inclusive and participative by-election.