Additional 100 companies of CAPF will reach Bengal next week

KOLKATA: An additional 100 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will reach West Bengal by the middle of next week, sources in the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEI) said on Saturday. With the additional forces, the total CAPF deployment in the state will reach 277 companies. This means that with the additional deployment of 100 companies, the total deployment will be closer to the actual requirement of 300 companies of CAPFs required to cover all the polling stations in the three constituencies in the state where elections will be held in the first phase. 19 April. Also read- Trinamool will approach the Election Commission regarding the ‘excesses’ of NIA in Bengal. The three constituencies are Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar. Barring Cooch Behar, the past records of poll-related violence in the other two seats are not that worrying. Sources in the CEO’s office said the deployment of force will be gradually increased for the next six phases of Lok Sabha elections in the state. The largest deployment is likely to be made for the seventh phase of elections on June 1, when nine seats will go to polls. The phased deployment is being determined through ‘vulnerability mapping’ of each polling station in each Lok Sabha constituency.