Amarinder puts own lock on strong room in Lambi

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Malout, February 7

Showing “little faith” in the three-tier security for the strong room, PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh, party candidate from the Lambi Assembly constituency, has put his own lock outside the strong room at Malout Institute for Management and Information Technology (MIMIT) here.

Confirming this, Anmol Singh Dhaliwal, Returning Officer, Lambi, said: “As the rules, a candidate can put his/her own lock/seal outside the strong room and keep the keys with him/her. The Congress candidate has authorised a person with his legal permission to put a lock outside the strong room to be doubly sure about its security. The election agents of other candidates too have signed documents and pasted these on the strong room’s door and frame to act as seal.”

He said the Election Commission had made three-tier security arrangements for the strong room by deploying around 60 security personnel. “The jawans of the BSF, Punjab Armed Police (PAP) and the Punjab Police are deployed there to keep a strict vigil round the clock. Besides, a CCTV camera has been installed at the gate of the building,” he said.

Meanwhile, AAP has erected a tent outside the MIMIT complex to keep an eye on the strong room. The party has also launched a statewide drive, “AAP protects EVMs”, with its volunteers staying put there till the counting of votes.