To manage the post-election violence effectively, nearly 400 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), comprising over 40,000 personnel, will continue to remain stationed in West Bengal until June 19.
A significant portion of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), which play a crucial role in maintaining internal security, will consist of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), as revealed by a source privy to the development, further emphasizing their importance in national security efforts. “The decision was taken anticipating post-poll violence in West Bengal.”
“The ongoing deployment of 400 CAPF companies in West Bengal aims to establish area dominance, build confidence among citizens, and ensure a peaceful environment while maintaining law and order in the state,” said officials.
As per the official source, the 400 CAPF companies, comprising the CRPF, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP), and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), were deployed to ensure free, fair, and peaceful general parliamentary elections in West Bengal. The Centre gradually deployed over 900 companies, totaling 90,000 personnel of CAPF, in the state in separate phases.
The MHA deployed CAPF in West Bengal at the Election Commission’s request to ensure peaceful Lok Sabha elections from April 19 to June 1 across seven phases.
The EC proposal, at the request of chief electoral officers nationwide, seeks to deploy CAPFs for election-related tasks like area control, confidence-building measures, safeguarding EVMs and strong rooms, and ensuring security at counting centers. This deployment targets general and assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim.
The Election Commission proposed deploying a maximum of 920 CAPF companies in West Bengal and 635 in Jammu and Kashmir, marking its first Lok Sabha elections post Article 370’s repeal. Other allocations include 360 companies for Chhattisgarh, 295 for Bihar, and varying numbers for other states like Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and more, with the lowest numbers for smaller regions like Sikkim, Mizoram, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa, and others.
