Flying Squads (FS) and Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs):
There shall be three or more dedicated Flying Squads in each Assembly Constituency/Segment for tracking of illegal cash transactions or any distribution of liquor or any other items suspected of being used for bribing the voters. The Flying Squads shall consist of one Senior Executive Magistrate as the head of the team, one senior police officer, one videographer and 3 to 4 armed police personnel. They are to be provided with a dedicated vehicle, mobile phone, a video camera and necessary Panchnama documents required for seizure of cash or goods.
There shall be three or more static surveillance teams in each Assembly Constituency with one Magistrate and three or four police personnel in each team. This team shall put up check posts and keep a watch on the movement of large quantities of cash, illegal liquor, any suspicious item or arms being carried in their area. The entire process of checking shall be videographed. The locations of static surveillance teams shall be changed periodically to maintain an element of surprise.
Flying Squads will be operational from the date of announcement of the elections and Static Surveillance. Teams will function from the date of notification as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) dated 29 May, 2015 (Annexure-G7, Annexure-B20) upto date of poll/re-poll, if any (Annexure-B18).
However, Flying Squads and Static Surveillance Teams shall be kept deployed in poll gone States/UTS and States/UTs where polls are scheduled in phases, as under-
Case-1: In case of States/UTs where polling is over, FSs and SSTs shall be kept active at strategic locations and in districts sharing borders with neighboring States/UTS.
Case-II: In case of States where polling is scheduled in phases, Flying Squads shall be kept active as under:-
(i) One Flying Squad may be continued in each assembly segment of Parliamentary Constituency, where polling is over, till the end of election process in the entire state; and
(ii) Flying Squads/SSTs may be kept operational in full strength, as per SOP dated 29th May, 2015 in the entire district where polls are going to held in multiple phases, till the end of poll in the entire district. (Annexure-B21)
Expenditure Monitoring Cell:
The DEO shall appoint one senior officer, not below the rank of SDM/ADM, conversant with accounting as the Nodal Officer of the Expenditure Monitoring Cell. All teams mentioned above and the Nodal Officer shall constitute the Expenditure Monitoring Cell.
Expenditure Sensitive Constituency (ESC) and Expenditure Sensitive Pockets (ESPs)
On the basis of history, profile of the constituency and past developments, the CEO shall identify the constituencies which are prone to high expenditure and corrupt practices. Such a constituency shall be termed as an "Expenditure Sensitive Constituency". For such a constituency, there shall be two Assistant Expenditure Observers, such additional number of Flying Squads, Static Surveillance Teams and Video Surveillance Teams as required, over and above, those deployed in the remaining constituencies. The CEO should facilitate effective functioning of the teams engaged in expenditure monitoring work. The list of such constituencies should be sent to the Commission well in advance
The Expenditure Sensitive Pockets are to be identified in consultation with the Expenditure Observer (during first visit), on the basis of the literacy or economic development or the number of complaints in the last election. Such pockets are to be kept under close vigil by the SSTs during last three days before elections.
(1) The DEO and SP in consultation with the Expenditure Observer shall identify the Expenditure Sensitive Pockets in the constituency. These areas should be under 24x7 surveillance by the SSTs during the last three days of poll. There shall be a mix of CPF in the SST during this period.
(ii) Where information is received that a candidate is indulging in high election expenditure, such candidate should be put under video surveillance all the time.
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