Dhaka: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam today announced that all preparations have been finalized to ensure a peaceful, orderly, and festive voting process for the upcoming 13th National Parliament election scheduled for February 12. A comprehensive three-type security arrangement has been established at over 42,000 polling centers nationwide, involving static police presence, mobile patrol teams, and striking forces ready to respond to emergencies.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the IGP made these remarks during a press conference at the Police Headquarters Media Centre, where he briefed journalists on the overall law and order situation ahead of the election. Highlighting the integration of technology in election security, the police chief noted that CCTVs have been installed at approximately 80 to 90 percent of polling centers. Risk-prone centers will also see the deployment of body cameras, while drone cameras will be used by police superintendents as per local needs and capacity.
The IGP further elaborated that a total of 157,805 police personnel will be directly deployed for election security, with 93,391 serving as static forces at polling centers and 29,798 as support personnel. Overall, 187,603 police members will be engaged under the election security plan.
In efforts to maintain law and order, the Ministry of Home Affairs has mandated that licensed arms holders deposit their firearms at police stations. To date, 27,995 licensed and legal weapons have been deposited as per this directive.
In addition to police forces, members of the armed forces, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and around 600,000 Ansar personnel will be deployed across the country to ensure comprehensive security during the election period. The press conference was also attended by Additional Inspectors General AKM Awlad Hossain (Administration), Md Akram Hossain (Finance), Mosleh Uddin Ahmed (Logistics and Asset Acquisition), and Sarder Nurul Amin (Development).