Imphal: In an effort to curb pre-poll violence and ensure smooth conduct of the Manipur Assembly elections, the state Home Department had directed all licensed arms holders of the state to deposit their firearms to the concerned or nearest police stations.
Following the directive, to date, as many as 8,648 licensed arms of the total 25,299 registered ones have been deposited at police stations across the state; this was informed by Manipur Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Agrawal on Thursday.
The step was taken to curb pre-poll violence in the state in view of a few recent incidents of violence, the CEO added.
Agarwal made the announcement while briefing the media on the various activities taken up by the state election commission for the smooth conduct of the polls.
The period for filing claims and objections for the Special Summary Revision of Photo Electoral Rolls has been completed and over 1.4 lakh forms have been received during the SSR period and disposal of forms will be completed by December 20.
As per the schedule fixed by the Election Commission of India, the final electoral rolls will be published on January 5, 2022, he added.
Manipur election is scheduled in early 2022 along with four other states. A pre-poll survey has indicated that the ruling BJP will return to power with a comfortable majority. Chief Minister N Biren Singh recently claimed that BJP will return to power in Manipur with the absolute majority by winning 40 plus seats in the upcoming assembly election.
