Itanagar: In preparation for the upcoming presidential election on July 18, the ballot box was brought to Itanagar from New Delhi on Wednesday.
The team of officers comprising Tadar Meena, additional secretary of the state assembly-cum-assistant returning officer (ARO) and Longman Ronrang, under-secretary reached Delhi on Tuesday to receive the ballot box and election-related materials.
The ballot box and the election-related materials were handed over to the ARO under appropriate security and safety measures after complete inspection at Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi, five hours before their scheduled return journey.
A Delhi Police team consisting of eight persons in two vehicles escorted the team up to the airport. Apart from that, one PSO and commando team escorted the officers up to the airport. The help desk posted by the ECI at the IGI Airport helped the officers.
During the transportation, it was ensured that the ballot box flew on a separate ticket beside the seat of the officer transporting the materials under personal supervision.
The state director general of police was requested to depute police personnel for pilot-escort duty on Wednesday from Mohanbari Airport (Dibrugarh) to the Legislative Assembly Secretariat, Itanagar where it has now been kept in the makeshift strong room.
The strong room was sealed and the sealing process video-graphed as instructed by ECI with the state police team engaged to guard the room 24X7.
The entire movement from Mohanbari to Itanagar was video-graphed and recorded by the state department of public relations and Doordarshan as per ECI guidelines.
The Presidential election would be held on July 18 while the counting of votes is scheduled for July 21.
R K Sona, Under Secretary (Finance), who is also the nodal officer (EVM), has been deputed by the Chief Electoral Officer.
The Election Commission of India has also appointed Naresh Pal Gangwar as an observer for the election to the office of the President of India.
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