Assembly Elections: Deposit firearms at nearest police stations, DEO Bandipora tells gun licence holders

Bandipora, Aug 17: The District Election Officer (DEO) Bandipora, Manzoor Ahmad Qadri, said that all gun licence holders have been ordered to deposit their firearms at the nearest police stations to ensure "no intimidation" takes place during the upcoming assembly elections.

Speaking at a press conference at the Mini Secretariat Conference Hall on Saturday, the DEO said, "Besides ensuring a free atmosphere, we are hopeful the voter turnout will be higher than the 60.68% that was recorded in the recently held parliamentary elections."

Providing details, the DEO said the Bandipora district, which is set to go to the polls in the third phase on October 1 as announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), has three constituencies: Bandipora (14), Sonawari (15), and Gurez (16).

These constituencies have "different geographical positions," he said, and facilities are in place to conduct and monitor the election process.

The notification for the constituencies will be issued on September 5.

Subsequently, last date for nominations is September 12, and the scrutiny of forms will take place on September 13.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations has been set for September 17.

The DEO said Bandipora has 312 polling stations, Sonawari 137, Bandipora 144, and Gurez 31, spread over 220 locations, with a total of 258,852 eligible voters, including 132,476 males and 124,579 females.

Additionally, there are 2,484 persons with disabilities (PWD) and six transgender individuals.

He added that additional orders have been issued to ensure smooth elections, including a strict ban on defacement of public property.