Additional 100 companies of CAPF to 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.

The additional forces will take the total CAPF deployment in the state to 277 companies. This means that with the additional deployment of 100 companies, the total deployment will be near the actual requirement of 300 companies of CAPF needed to cover all the polling booths in the three constituencies of the state that will go to the polls in the first phase on April 19.

The three constituencies are Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar. Barring Cooch Behar, the past records of poll-related violence are not that alarming in the other two seats.

Sources in the CEO's office said that the force deployment will gradually increase for the subsequent six phases of Lok Sabha polls in the state.

The maximum deployment is likely to be made for the seventh phase of elections scheduled on June 1, when nine seats will go to the polls.

The phase-wise deployment is being determined through 'vulnerability mapping' of each polling station in every Lok Sabha constituency.