learning lessons from the past incidents of use of money power for influencing voters in the state during Rajya Sabha and Mayoral polls, Income Tax (I-T) department this time, has deployed 24 officers and 50 inspectors all over the state for keeping a close watch on the poll process. Director General (Investigations) of I-T department Ujjwal Chaudhary, while speaking to the media persons also said that one Nodal officer will be deployed in each of the constituencies.
"A total of 65 I-T officials and over 130 Inspectors have been deployed in Bihar and Jharkhand by the department, which is the highest number of I-T officials ever deputed to keep an eye on the poll process," said Choudhary.
According to Choudhary, such a large number of officials and Inspectors have never been deployed before during elections in the circle. Chaudhary also released toll free numbers of the control room in Ranchi along with phone and fax numbers. "Our Nodal officers deployed in each of the constituencies will coordinate with the local District Election Officers as well as police, RPF, BSF in Bihar, CISF at airports and take actions accordingly" said Choudhary.
Choudhary also added that Air intelligence Units at Ranchi, Patna and Gaya Airports will be keeping a close vigil on the passengers while flights coming to Jamshedpur will also be kept under surveillance. Besides that, track record of bank transactions will also be kept by the department. I-T Control Rooms at Ranchi and Patna will be working 24 hours on the intelligence inputs gathered from various sources. "Anybody can share information with us if they find anything suspicious around them regarding use of black money to influence voters, proper action will be taken according to the guidelines issued by the Election Commission," added Chaudhary.
Choudhary said that more and more officials have been deployed this time to decrease the action time so that lead time is saved which will further help in examining the evidences collected from the sources. "Appropriate number of vehicles has been arranged for the officers and they have been instructed not to cross their jurisdiction as one can better perform better in his own field," said Choudhary.
Choudhary also urged people to share information with the IT if they apprehend any such thing suspicious around them as quality and performance of the department depends upon the quality intelligence they gather from different sources including the common man. "If we get support from common people, chances of their success increases manifolds," he said.