Heavy security, webcasting, border checks in place for Telangana Municipal Elections-2026

The Telangana Police have put in place extensive security arrangements ahead of the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections-2026 scheduled to be held on Wednesday (February 11, 2026), covering seven municipal corporations and 116 municipalities across the State.

Director General of Police, B. Shivadhar Reddy, said on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) that elaborate bandobust arrangements were made for a total of 8,203 polling stations, of which 1,302 were classified as hyper-sensitive, 1,926 as sensitive and 4,975 as normal. To ensure smooth conduct of the polling, more than 3,000 additional personnel drawn from the Telangana State Police, Forest, Excise, CID, Legal Metrology and other departments were deployed.

The Model Code of Conduct has been in force across all police commissionerates and districts, except Hyderabad, since January 27, 2026. As part of preventive measures, 1,183 licence arms were deposited, 4,318 persons were bound over for good behaviour and 398 non-bailable warrants were executed or recalled, the official informed.

Border surveillance too was intensified. A total of 20 interstate border check posts were established along Telangana’s borders with four States, while 18 interstate border-sharing units were identified at the Wanaparthy border. Of these, check posts on the Telangana side are operational along the Maharashtra border at five locations, Karnataka at five locations, Andhra Pradesh at eight locations and Chhattisgarh at two locations.

Additionally, 55 inter-district and intra-district border check posts were set up, supported by 181 Flying Squads and 167 Static Surveillance Teams working on the ground.

The police said focused training programmes on the effective implementation of the Model Code of Conduct were conducted at the Station House Officer, circle, division and unit levels across the State.

Significant seizures were reported during the enforcement drive. Total seizures were valued at ₹3.09 crore across 988 FIRs. Cash seizures alone accounted for ₹1.29 crore in four cases, while liquor worth ₹1.21 crore was seized in 756 cases. Drugs valued at ₹15.7 lakh were seized in 18 cases, freebies worth ₹13 lakh in 13 cases and precious metals worth over ₹28.69 lakh. In all, 142 cases were registered under the Model Code of Conduct.

The silent period began at 5 p.m. on February 9, with police visibly increasing patrolling and presence in vulnerable areas. Officials said 100% webcasting was ensured inside all polling stations, with additional coverage outside hyper-sensitive booths.

At the Telangana Police Headquarters in Lakdikapool, a dedicated command and control centre was established, featuring a large video wall streaming live webcasts from cameras installed across the State. Senior police officials are monitoring the feeds in real time, keeping a constant watch on polling stations and sensitive locations to enable swift intervention in the event of any untoward incident. The Telangana police have appealed to all voters to come out and exercise their franchise freely and fearlessly on polling day.