Central forces leave after polling in DK

The Central paramilitary personnel who were deployed to provide security during polling in Dakshina Kannada, have left the district for other districts where polling will be held.

Out of six companies of paramilitary personnel, five companies have left the district.

Six companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had arrived in Dakshina Kannada district to provide security during the polling. Each company had 70 personnel. A majority of them were deployed in Maoist-infested areas, sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths.

The CRPF and ITBP personnel were stationed in the district for more than 10 days. They had provided security while transporting EVMs and VVPATs to the mustering centre and later to the counting centres. All the EVMs and VVPATs have been kept at strongrooms in NITK, Surathkal.

Three-level security is being provided to the strongrooms. The first-level security is managed by the central forces. As a result, one company is still stationed in the district.

Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil said, "The first-level of security at the strongrooms are provided by the central forces. Hence, one company is shared among Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituencies. Other five companies have left for polling duty in other parts of the country."

The services of KSRP, DAR and CAR personnel are also being used for providing security at the counting centre and strongrooms.