Kolkata, February 28 – As the final voter list in West Bengal is set to be published on Saturday, the police have been directed to be prepared for any eventuality.
According to a police order issued late Friday night, the battalion headquarters has been advised to ensure maximum mobilization of personnel at the battalion headquarters.
The individual division and unit heads have been asked to withdraw personnel from routine and non-essential duties and keep them on standby to deal with any situation amid the apprehension of tension following the publication of the final voter list.
Already, the first 240 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel who will be deployed in West Bengal in the first phase from March 1 have started arriving in batches since Friday.
The first batch of 240 companies that will be deployed on March 1 will include 110 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 55 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF), 21 companies of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), 27 companies of the Indo-Tibetan Police Force (ITBP), and 27 companies of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
It is unprecedented that the CAPF deployment is being carried out even before the announcement of the polling dates and the enforcement of the model code of conduct.
In the second batch, another 240 companies will be deployed on March 10.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had already decided that the vehicles allocated to the CAPF personnel, whose deployment in West Bengal will start from March 1 amid the crucial state assembly elections scheduled later this year, will be fitted with GPS trackers to ensure that the Commission-appointed central observers can constantly monitor whether the deployed CAPF personnel are effectively utilized from day one or not.
The ECI had already given clear instructions that the CAPF companies deployed will not be allowed to sit idle, and from day one, they will have to be utilized for area domination and get acquainted with the geography of the state.
