New Delhi: To manage post-election violence, nearly 400 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) companies (over 40,000 personnel) will remain in West Bengal until June 19, sources said.
A significant portion of the CAPFs will consist of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), said a source privy to the development, adding "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 requesting anonymity.
As per the official source, the 400 CAPF companies consist of the CRPF, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP), and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
Considering free, fair, and peaceful general parliamentary elections in West Bengal, the Centre deployed over 900 companies (90,000 personnel) of CAPF in the state gradually in separate phases.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had sanctioned the deployment of CAPF in West Bengal following the request of the Election Commission aimed at conducting free, fair, and peaceful Lok Sabha elections, which started on April 19 and concluded on June 1 after seven phases of polls across India.
The EC had sent the proposal to the ministry following requests from the chief electoral officers of all the states and the UTs for the deployment of CAPFs for election-related duties such as area domination, confidence-building measures, poll day-related duties, guarding of EVM and strong room centres, and counting centre security during the general elections and the assembly elections in four states: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim.
As per a proposal, the Election Commission had sought a maximum of 920 CAPF companies for West Bengal, followed by 635 in Jammu and Kashmir, which witnessed its first Lok Sabha elections after scrapping Article 370 from the erstwhile state.
Besides, 360 companies of CAPF were sought for their deployment in Chhattisgarh during the polls: 295 in Bihar; 252 in Uttar Pradesh; 250 each in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Jharkhand; 200 each in Gujarat, Manipur, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu; 175 in Odisha; 160 each in Assam and Telangana; 150 in Maharashtra; 113 in Madhya Pradesh; 100 in Tripura; 95 in Haryana; 75 in Arunachal Pradesh; 70 each in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and Delhi; 66 in Kerala; 57 in Laddakh; 55 in Himachal Pradesh; 48 in Nagaland; 45 in Meghalaya; 17 in Sikkim; 15 in Mizoram; 14 in Dadra and Nagar Haveli; 12 in Goa; 11 in Chandigarh; 10 in Puducherry; five in Andaman and Nicobar; and three in Lakshadweep.
—ANI