VARANASI: The village chowkidars (watchmen), who are considered as the mainstay of police department and assist cops in rural areas, have now been roped in by the district administration to check distribution of cash, drugs and liquor to lure voters ahead of the forthcoming Assembly polls In villages, the most familiar police agent is the chowkidar. Their job is to patrol the village at night and to watch for suspicious elements. They have the responsibility of reporting all crimes to the nearest police station.In the Assembly elections, the district police want the village watchmen to become their eyes and ears and play the role of watchdog in the polls. There are as many as 1,327 villages with a total of 25 police stations, including eight in rural and 17 in urban areas.It is often seen that ahead of elections, political parties or candidates splurge on rallies and luring voters. They woo voters with free meals, cash, plastic pouches of alcohol or liquor. The 'illegal gifts' in the form of money and liquor start flowing freely and generously to attract voters in rural areas.To curb such activities, chowkidars have been directed to check activities involving violation of model code of conduct and report it to the senior officials so that action could be initiated. The police have connected with around 500 village watchmen in rural areas.SP (rural) Ashish Tiwari said that chowkidars can play a vital role in monitoring the activities in the villages. They have complete information about the area, its people as well as disturbing elements. We have directed them to keep a tab on any activities like handing out cash, drugs, alcohol or those involving bootlegging of liquor."Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Avinash Kumar convened a meeting of chowkidars attached with Phoolpur and Badagaon police stations. They were informed about the promulgation of model code of conduct and directed to inform SDM Pindra and related station officer if they come across activities like disbursement of cash or liquor.

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