3-tier security for strongrooms

Harshraj Singh
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, May 20

Three-tier security has been set up for the strongrooms at Punjab Agricultural University and Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College Ludhiana (GNDEC) where EVMs have been kept. A few candidates and their supporters are keeping a vigil on the sealed EVMs from outside the strongrooms.

The strongrooms for the nine Assembly constituencies under the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency have been set up at PAU. The EVMs used in the five Assembly constituencies under the Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency have been kept at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC) and GNE Polytechnic College.

The Lok Insaaf Party candidate, Simarjeet Singh Bains, said their teams are keeping a watch on the EVMs from outside the strongrooms.

Punjab AAP general secretary Ahbaab Singh Grewal said they were keeping a strong vigil on the EVMs but they had deployed no teams outside the strongrooms.

According to information, nine counting centres for the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency have been set up at PAU and five centres for the Fatehgarh Sahib parliamentary constituency have been set up GNE Polytechnic and GNDEC. The strongrooms are located adjoining to these counting centres. The counting of votes would be held on May 23.

Police Commissioner of Ludhiana Sukhchain Singh Gill said there were three-tier security arrangements for the strongrooms. The first layer is of the Central Para Military Forces, followed by the State Armed Forces and the district police, he added.

District Election Officer Pradeep Kumar Agrawal said the CCTV cameras had also been installed to keep a watch on the sealed strongrooms.

Notably, the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency comprises nine Assembly constituencies.

Counting centres

Ludhiana East: Library hall of Government Senior Secondary Smart School, PAU 

Ludhiana South: 2nd floor, Examination Hall-cum-Lecture Theatre Complex, PAU

Atam Nagar: Examination Hall, near Kisan Training Centre, PAU

Ludhiana Central: Gymnasium Hall, Ground Floor, PAU

Ludhiana West: Gymnasium Hall, Ground Floor, PAU

Ludhiana North: Multipurpose Hall, Government Senior Secondary Smart School, PAU

Gill: Ground floor, Examination Hall-cum-Theatre Complex, opposite Department of Vegetable Science & Fruit Science, PAU

Dakha: Sukhdev Bhawan dining hall, PAU

Jagraon constituency: Dr DS Dev Examination Hall, College of Agriculture, PAU