Poll watch: Overall, 94.10 cr cash seized so far 

“The state is gearing up for free and fair polls and paramilitary forces will soon arrive for the April 18 polls. About 3.5 lakh government staff and 60,000 state police along with paramilitary forces will be used for the Lok Sabha polls. Armed personnel will be deployed in all polling booths and CCTV cameras will be set up outside every booth,” he said.

Sahoo added that political parties have also demanded uninterrupted CCTV coverage outside the sensitive polling booths.

The CEO said that the flying squads has seized more than 500 kgs of gold till now. “Movement of liquor, cash for ATMS and other goods are under constant surveillance and additional check posts have been created in all district and state borders,” he explained.

When asked about the instructions given by EC, poll officials said the Commission had directed CEOs and district election officers to use social media for the benefits of voters and polling.

“The Commission has directed that regular press briefings must be held by the CEOs and all the DEOs, so that all crucial information is passed to all the stakeholders through the media,” he said.

According to poll officials, Income Tax officials have been deputed in each district for expenditure monitoring while Air Intelligence Units of I-T authorities have been set up at all the airports in the state.

To monitor the election expenditures, additional expenditure observers are on the job and they will send the reports directly to the Election Commission. Regarding the cleansing of voters rolls 1,95,498 multiple entries have been removed. In case of electoral photo identity cards with repeated numbers and errors about 25,000 cards have been corrected, sources said.