CAPF chiefs meet in Kolkata to review security situation for Bengal elections

THe chiefs of all exchange Armed constabulary Forces (CAPFs) held a high-ranking get together in calcutta to review the security situation and deployment of personnel ahead of the two-phase assembly polls in West Bengal, even as the forces have rolled out a massive security grid in the eastern state by bringing in bullet proof anti-riot vehicles from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), officials said.West Bengal will vote in two phases on April 23 and April 29 and the results will be announced on May 4.All CAPF service chiefs inspected arrangements ahead of polling in West Bengal, where flag marches were being held in several sensitive locations, officials said, requesting anonymity. They added that an additional 150 CAPF companies, requisitioned by the Election Commission above the existing deployment, have reached the state and will be positioned ahead of polling. A CAPF company has a sanctioned strength of 120-130 personnel.For the upcoming West Bengal polls, a significantly higher number of CAPF companies—2,550 in total— have been deployed, nearly three times the 845 companies sent during the 2021 assembly polls and 800 companies deployed in the 2016 polls. Currently, more than 200,000 CAPF personnel are stationed in the state, with officials citing the history of poll-related violence in the state, including fatalities reported during the previous assembly and panchayat polls, as the reason for increased deployment.In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 1,019 companies of CAPFs were deployed in the state. This time, ECI has also decided to retain 500 CAPF companies after the polling ends and an additional 200 companies will be retained to guard EVM/strong rooms, the officials said.On Saturday afternoon, the director generals of the CRPF, BSF, CISF, SSB, and ITBP held a security review meeting at Salt Lake in Kolkata. “The chiefs of the forces are visiting different parts of the state to review the security arrangements. Special focus is on areas like Purba Medinipur, Malda, Bhabanipur, Dakshin Dinajpur where additional forces are deployed to ensure violence-free polling this time,” an official said. “All the chiefs have held meetings with the company commanders and also officials from West Bengal police.”The CAPF heads also held a review meeting with their forces at the 3rd Signal Centre on CRPF campus, Salt Lake.The CRPF, which is the nodal agency for all CAPFs, took stock of the poll arrangements in another meeting with all forces on Friday. The meeting, chaired by an inspector general, who has been appointed state force coordinator, discussions were held to take stock of troop movement, review of logistics, movement plan for the 24 hours before polling, polling day and also stock of anti-riot equipment.“The CAPFs this time have also brought anti-riot vehicles to West Bengal from J&K and other conflict states. The bullet proof vehicles are helpful in entering conflict areas. It has been successful in the Valley (Kashmir) in incidents of stone pelting. It can enter conflict areas without the vehicle or its occupants sustaining any injuries. The security arrangements this time are massive,” the official cited above added.