Shoot-at-sight orders in Rae Bareli

Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued in Rae Bareli, where Congress president Sonia Gandhi is among the candidates in the fray, to prevent booth capturing and rigging and check elements trying to disrupt Monday's Lok Sabha election.

In a joint press conference in Rae Bareli on Sunday. District Magistrate T P Pathak and Superintendent of Police B R Mina said elaborate security arrangements have been made with the deployment of seven companies of para-military forces, seven companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary and 8,000 police personnel in the constituency, besides 127 sector magistrates.

On the directives of the Election Commission, an IG rank official and a special static magistrate have already been posted, the officials said adding that the election process would be video-graphed.

Also Read 60 Rae Bareli polling booths to b e videographed

Out of the total of 1,142 polling stations, 173 booths, where independent MLA Akhilesh Singh had bagged 95 to 99 per cent votes in the last assembly election, have been identified as super sensitive while 185 others were declared sensitive.

Two teams led by deputy SPs have been constituted to arrest Akhilesh Singh, who is absconding and against whom four criminal cases are pending. Singh is supporting Samajwadi Party candidate Ashok Singh.

Ihe Commission had earlier sent a special observer A K Singh after Priyanka Gandhi complained that Akhilesh Singh was intimidating Congress workers.