Bangladesh elections: Over 50% polling centres flagged ‘risk-prone’, CCTV and body cameras deployed

More than half of Bangladesh’s polling centres have been identified as “risk-prone” ahead of the general elections, prompting authorities to roll out heightened security measures, including extensive CCTV surveillance and the use of body-worn cameras by police personnel.

Election officials said nearly 90 per cent of polling stations across the country will be covered by CCTV cameras, marking the most technology-driven election in Bangladesh’s history. In Dhaka, police personnel deployed at sensitive locations will wear body cameras for the first time.

Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Mohammad Sanaullah said the Election Commission (EC) had adopted a security framework based on risk assessment and local sensitivity. “Security deployment is being made based on local sensitivity assessments,” Sanaullah told reporters.

He added that the EC expected law enforcement agencies to maintain a peaceful environment during polling and in the post-election period. “Compared to any time in the past, we are in a better position now,” he said, expressing satisfaction with the prevailing law-and-order situation.

His remarks came hours after Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam revealed that around 24,000 of the nearly 43,000 polling centres nationwide had been classified as either “high” or “moderate” risk. According to police data, 1,614 out of 2,131 polling centres in Dhaka have been identified as risk-prone.

However, in a contrasting assessment, the army said during an earlier media briefing that it had identified only two polling centres in Dhaka city as “risky”.

Officials confirmed that this election will see the largest-ever deployment of law enforcement personnel, alongside the most extensive use of surveillance technology in the country’s electoral process.

According to EC data, first-time voters account for around 3.58 per cent of the total electorate of 127.7 million voters.
The polls are being held alongside a referendum on an 84-point reform package, adding to the political significance of the exercise. The main contest is between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami.

The Awami League, led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has been barred from contesting after it was disbanded by the interim government headed by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus last year. Hasina’s government was ousted following a student-led violent street protest, known as the “July Uprising”, on August 5, 2024.

Pre-poll surveys conducted over the past two months by consulting firms, research organisations and think tanks suggest that the BNP is leading the race, with its new chairman Tarique Rahman emerging as the frontrunner for the prime minister’s post.

(Inputs from PTI)