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3-tier security in strong rooms

By Rituraj Borthakur

GUWAHATI, April 24 - A three-tier security has been put in place for guarding the strong rooms where the polled Electronic Voting Machines are being kept. The innermost tier is being guarded by the Central armed paramilitary force (CAPF). One section of CAPF will be on duty round the clock and each strong room has been allotted one platoon for the purpose.

The second tier is guarded by the State armed police and the third tier by the District Executive Force.

Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Sahu told The Assam Tribune there are 51 strong rooms in the State in the fifty election districts.

"All necessary security measures as per directions of the ECI have been taken. The EVMs will be in the strong room till the counting," Sahu said. The strong rooms were sealed after all the EVMs for that receipt center were received.

According to ECI rules, strong room can have only one door and no other door or opening. It must have a double lock system, with one key to be kept with strong room in charge and the other key with an officer not below the rank of additional district magistrate.

The strong room will be under 24X7 CCTV camera coverage and the rooms would have uninterrupted electricity supply.

A control room adjacent to the strong room will be operative round the clock.

A gazetted officer along with a police officer are on duty round the clock for monitoring the security arrangements of strong room.

Officials said no one is allowed to enter the inner perimeter (second tier) without following some protocols, like entry of the name in a log book maintained by the CAPF. Even visits by the observers or DEOs or SPs or candidates or their agents have to make entries before crossing the second tier.

All visits will be video recorded.

No vehicle, including that of any official or ministers or any other political functionary is allowed inside the secured campus where the EVMs are stored.

Returning officers have been directed to visit the storage campus (upto the inner perimeter only) every day in the morning and evening and check the log book and videography and send a report to the DEO on the status every day.

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