Central forces arrive in West Bengal ahead of Assembly polls 2021

With the Assembly elections round the corner 12 companies of Central forces arrived in West Bengal on Saturday. The development comes at a time when the dates of the Assembly elections were yet to be announced.

According to sources in the Election Commission (EC), two companies of Central Forces arrived at Durgapur by train. They also said that one company reached Barhaman, five companies reached Dankuni and four reached Kolkata Station. The forces arrived from Jammu and Kashmir and will soon be deployed in their designated areas, sources said.

“The Election Commission has decided to deploy 125 companies of Central Forces in West Bengal by February 25. By February 25, 60 companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), five companies of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), five companies of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and 30 companies of the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) will reach Bengal in a few days,” the EC official said.

He also said that the reason behind the deployment of Central forces was to ensure campaigning goes smoothly and also to build confidence among people. EC sources said that there would be a “special focus” on area domination by the Central forces in sensitive zones.

As of now four companies of CRPF will be deployed in the Howrah Police Commissionerate Area, two companies in the Howrah Rural area and four companies of SSB will be deployed in Kolkata.

Up to nine companies of CRPF have been allotted each for the districts of Jhargram and Purulia, EC sources said. The Central Forces will submit reports to the Chief Electoral Officer on a daily basis.