Bengal: EC orders another 100 CAPF companies for 1st phase
The Election Commission (EC) has ordered the deployment of another 100 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for the first phase of voting in Bengal on April 19. The additional 10,000 personnel (each CAPF company consists of 100 personnel) have to be deployed by April 15, according to the EC order.
Fifty-five companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and 45 companies of Border Security Force would make up these additional troops, according to sources.
Earlier, for the first phase, a total of 177 companies, or 17,700 personnel, were ordered for deployment, out of the total of 920 companies sanctioned for the state.
The additional troops would bring the total deployment to 277 companies, or 27,700 troops, for the first phase of voting in the constituencies of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, all in north Bengal.
The order comes following a fresh assessment of the security situation across all the states and union territories in a meeting attended by the full EC panel and top officials of states, Union territories and Central forces.
