The government of Bangladesh has decided to deploy joint forces across the country for 12 days surrounding the upcoming parliamentary election and referendum. The announcement was made by Home Secretary Nasimul Gani following a high-level meeting at the Chief Adviser’s Office. The deployment will cover four days before the election, the voting day, and seven days after. Multiple teams from the Ministry of Home Affairs have already begun 24-hour monitoring of the national situation.

According to AHM Shahadat Hossain, AIG (Media) of the Police Headquarters, law enforcement agencies have been instructed to maintain readiness and act immediately upon receiving any information about potential unrest. Candidates and campaign workers have been briefed on conduct guidelines. Meanwhile, 555,958 members of Ansar and VDP will be on duty at 42,766 polling centers, with 13 members assigned to each center.

Ansar spokesperson Md Ashikuzzaman stated that three of the 13 members will be armed, while the rest will carry batons. A total of 1,191 Ansar battalions will serve as striking forces from February 8 to 14, with additional patrols operating earlier in various areas.