As part of preparations for the Assembly elections, the police have started the first round of booth-level vulnerability assessment, covering sensitive locations in rural areas of the district. Hypersensitive booths will get additional security cover by the Armed Forces based on the safety assessment report and mapping.
Constituencies where the presence of Maoist activists has been confirmed by investigation teams will get high security. All such locations have been covered in the first round of field-level assessment by senior police officers.
Based on intelligence inputs, the proposed polling stations at St. George High School, Vilangad, Abhayagiri Government Welfare School and Indira Nagar Village Office are likely to get high security cover this time. The presence of Thunderbolt commandos will be ensured along forest areas where the presence of Maoists has been confirmed.
A decision on the deployment of Central forces will be taken after the final round of vulnerability assessment covering hypersensitive areas such as Thottilpalam, Koorachundu, Valayam and Peruvannamoozhi.
There will be regular patrolling in these areas till the end of the election process. The movement of vehicles and suspicious persons will be monitored by plainclothesmen.
The number of police sub divisions will be increased in city and rural areas. In the rural limits, the existing three sub divisions will be increased to eight for better security management. In the city limits, there will be four sub divisions. A meeting of senior police officers will be convened shortly to discuss the mapping process and other safety issues.
