PESHAWAR: More than 70,000 police and security personnel will be deployed at 12,685 polling stations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to ensure peaceful elections today (Wednesday).

DIG (operations) of the provincial police Mohammad Ali Babakhel told reporters at the Central Police Office here that the police had finalised arrangements for peaceful election across the province.

He said 3,174 polling stations had been declared the most sensitive and 4,539 sensitive in the province. The DIG said a central control room had been set up at the CPO, which was linked with the offices of the regional and district police officers.

He said if trouble was reported at polling stations, the control room would alert the nearby police mobile for action. Mr Babakhel said the police would deploy two scanner vehicles for surveillance in the provincial capital and that both would patrol the city.

He said both vehicles mounted with four cameras would serve as first responders in case of emergency and would broadcast live feed to the control room.

The DIG said besides police personnel, 94 Frontier Constabulary platoons, 500 Azad Jammu and Kashmir police officials and 15,000 personnel of other departments would also ensure security in the province on July 25.

City police chief Qazi Jamilur Rehman, who was also in attendance, said the police had set up a command and control system using own resources to monitor security arrangements at all polling stations in Peshawar.

He said in case of any emergency, the police would immediately rush to the place.

The official said around 8,000 police personnel would be deployed in the provincial capital.

He said 17 Quick Response Force teams armed with heavy weapons and 20 patrol units would also be on duty in the city.

Mr Rehman said around 70 ‘nakabandis’ (checkpoints) would be set up across the provincial capital, while 12 teams of the bomb disposal unit and 10 teams of sniffer dogs would be deployed.

He said the city police’s control room had been linked with polling stations.

Peshawar commissioner Shahab Ali Shah told Dawn that the administration had made foolproof security arrangements to hold peaceful elections.

He said all departments were working in tandem to ensure quick response to any emergency on the election day.

The commissioner said the health department, fire bridge, rescue force and law-enforcement agencies worked in close coordination to meet any eventuality.

He said CCTV cameras had been installed to examine security checks at polling stations in the capital and the erstwhile Frontier Region Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2018