The West Bengal government is informed by the Union Home Ministry that approximately 2,400 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will be stationed all over the state in view of the coming assembly elections. This mass implementation will be geared towards a peaceful and violence-free polling.
According to the officials, 480 CAPF companies are already deployed in the state earlier this month. Another 1,920 companies are currently going to be rolled out gradually over the next few weeks. The implementation will start with the arrival of 300 companies by March 31, two additional sets of 300 companies by April 7 and April 10. Another 277 companies will come on board by April 13, and the last and biggest lot of 743 firms will come by April 17.
The West Bengal Assembly elections will be done in two phases on April 23 and April 29 and the votes will be counted on May 4. The security grid is going to be wide-ranged to include the polling booths, sensitive zones, and critical infrastructure to avoid any undesirable incidences.
Once the process of polling is finalized, more or less 1,700 companies will be returned and will be dispatched to their respective destinations. Nevertheless, approximately 200 companies will be left to protect strong rooms and counting centres until the results are announced. Also, approximately 500 companies will remain in the state even after counting day to ensure law and order and be able to prevent the possible post-poll violence.
Authorities noted that the deployment shows an increase in vigilance to allow free and fair elections in the state of West Bengal.