KOLKATA: Despite a strong note of caution from the Election Commission of India (ECI) a whopping 30, 000 Non-Bailable Warrants (NBWs) for arrest in West Bengal are yet to be executed, sources said on Saturday.
They added that even as the ECI is scheduled to announce on Saturday the polling and counting dates for the Lok Sabha elections, the total number of NBWs yet to be executed in West Bengal is above 30, 000.
Sources also said that in Kolkata alone, the number of NBWs yet to be executed is over 3, 000.
Senior bureaucrats attached to the state government fear another slap on the wrist from the ECI on this issue, considering that the state’s law and order situation has been under the poll panel’s lens for quite some time in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The state government said that bringing the number of non-executed NBWs to zero within a short span of time, as desired by the ECI, is not an easy task, considering that in many cases the accused had either gone underground or left the state.
In early March, when the full Bench of the ECI was in West Bengal to review poll-preparedness, Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, gave clear instructions to the state’s police administration to execute the NBWs at the earliest.
The state government was also asked to send a detailed report on this count to the ECI once the execution of the NBWs was completed.
During meetings with representatives of the state’s administrative machinery, the ECI made it clear to the Police Commissioner and other top officials of the district police, that under no circumstances were the civic volunteers attached to the West Bengal Police, to be used for any kind of poll-related duty, directly or indirectly.
The commission members also cautioned the police that while all attempts should be made to prevent pre-poll violence, each and every complaint by the people should be treated seriously.