EC seeks police cover for cash transfer during Assembly polls

New Delhi: The Election Commission has sought police protection for cash transfers during the poll time, and has said that it should be kept informed about such movements from banks and currency chests.

In its order to the chief electoral officers of five poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, the EC has cited standing orders of the poll-body on the subject besides appending the recent instructions issued by the department of financial services (DFS) under the finance ministry in this regard.

According to the DFS, the “operating procedure for transportation of cash by banks and transfer of currency from one chest to another operated by the banks within the state or inter-state level as laid down in the above mentioned letters shall be followed scrupulously”.

“(CEOs) are also requested to kindly advise the directors general and commissioners of police to ensure adequate police protection for the safe, secure and speedy inter-state and intra-state movement of currency chests to the various bank branches/ATMs at some places where banks may apprehend security concerns and while doing so, the police authorities shall have to keep the CEO informed in the poll going states,” it said.

The EC orders are seen in the backdrop of an incident in poll-bound Tamil Nadu in 2016, when three trucks carrying Rs 570 crore was intercepted by the EC surveillance teams. Between February 4 and March 8, five states will go for Assembly polls and the poll code came into force on January 4 when the EC announced the schedule.