Bihar polls: Elaborate security measures in place for counting of votes on Nov 14
Patna (PTI): Elaborate security arrangements have been made for Friday’s counting of votes polled in the Bihar assembly elections, across 46 centres in 38 districts of the state, officials said.
Schools in Patna will remain closed on Friday in view of the counting exercise, they said.
Bihar had registered a historic voter turnout of 67.13 per cent in the elections to the 243-member assembly in two phases on November 6 and November 11. A total of 7.45 crore voters were eligible to decide the electoral fate of 2,616 candidates.
“Counting arrangements have been made in all the 243 assembly constituencies. The exercise will be conducted by 243 Returning Officers in the presence of 243 Counting Observers and the candidates or their agents.
“A total of 4,372 counting tables, each staffed with one supervisor, counting assistant and micro-observer have been set up. More than 18,000 Counting Agents appointed by the nominees will also oversee the process,” the Election Commission said in a statement.
Counting of votes will commence at 8 am on Friday.
“As per the Commission’s directions, postal ballot counting will begin first, and counting of EVMs will start at 8.30 am,” it said.
“Adequate number of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and personnel of the Bihar Police have been deployed across the state to ensure smooth counting, and prevent any untoward incident,” a senior officer said.
He said 106 companies of security personnel from outside the state have also been deployed.
A poll official said EVMs and VVPATs used in the elections have been sealed inside strong rooms under a double-lock system.
“A two-tier security has been ensured at the counting centres. While the inner tier has been assigned to the CAPF, state police have been deployed at the outer rung. Besides, 24/7 CCTV surveillance and other security provisions are in place,” he added.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
