LUCKNOW: Ahead of assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh police has zeroed in on 53 communally sensitive districts, as per parameters set by the Election Commission. While 24 districts were marked highly communally sensitive category, 29 other hotspots were tagged sensitive. Deployment of drones and central armed paramilitary force (CAPF) personnel would be done after assessment, said police.
The highly sensitive districts include Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Ayodhya, Gonda, Balrampur, Bahraich, Meerut, Agra, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Bareilly, Sambhal, Bijnor, Firozabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Mau, Azamgarh, and Moradabad.
Additional director general of police, law and order, Prashant Kumar, said caste-and-community arithmetic, law and order history and profile of candidates make a district ‘sensitive’. He also said, security preparations have been made in highly sensitive districts, as per EC guidelines.
“We have also directed district police chiefs to act against those named in earlier poll-related cases and shackle probable trouble-makers,” said Kumar.
All district police chiefs have also been told to swiftly chalk out a report, recommending suspension or cancellation of arms licences of offenders and submit it to respective district magistrates, said the officer. While deployment of CAPF has already begun, aerial vigil with drones will be done on recommendations of the Election Commission.
The districts earmarked sensitive include Gautam Buddh Nagar, Badaun, Barabanki, Basti, Deoria, Shrawasti, Etah, Ghaziabad, Ghazipur, Hardoi, Amroha, Jaunpur, Kasganj, Kaushambhi, Kushinagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Mainpuri, Mathura, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharthnagar, Sitapur, Sultanpur, Amethi, Hapur, Fatehpur, and Bhadohi.
UP assembly elections 2022: Central forces & drones in 53 communal hotspots – Times of India
