Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has announced that a special security deployment will be in effect for nine days surrounding the upcoming 13th national election.

The enhanced law-and-order measures will cover five days before the election, election day itself, and three days after, he said.

The timeframe may be adjusted depending on the national situation, he added.

He made the remarks on Saturday at 2pm while speaking to journalists during a briefing at the Patuakhali Circuit House.

Jahangir said, “Currently, 30,000 army personnel are already deployed across the country. During the election, an additional 100,000 army members will be mobilised. Around 35,000 members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), 5,000 from the Navy, 4,000 from the Coast Guard, about 8,000 from RAB, and nearly 550,000 members of the Ansar force will be deployed. Ansar will play a major role in election management this time, and they will be equipped with firearms and body cameras.”

Emphasising confidence in the security arrangements, the adviser said, “The election will be very peaceful—there is no doubt about that.”

Responding to a question, he said, “The fall of the previous government was not caused by any three individuals. It happened because of the spontaneous participation of the people. You saw how they fled the country, how their relatives fled. This was not the action of one or two individuals—it happened because it was the will of the people.”