Kolkata: The eight Lok Sabha constituencies scattered over five districts of West Bengal which will be going to polls in the sixth phase of the election on May 25, will be turned into virtual fortresses as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to increase the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) by 56 per cent over what it was in the fifth phase.
Insiders in the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), said that a total of 1,020 companies of CAPF will be there, which is 56 per cent higher than the 650 companies deployed for seven constituencies that went to polls on May 20. Out of 1,020 companies 919 companies will be deployed at the polling booths.
Of the remaining 101 companies, the majority will be deployed as part of the Quick Response Teams and a small portion will be kept on reserve.These CAPF companies will be assisted by 29,468 personnel from the state police forces. While the exact constituency-wise distribution of CAPF deployment will be finalised soon, the maximum deployment will be made for the two Lok Sabha constituencies in East Midnapore District namely Tamluk and Kanthi considering the sensitive nature of the booths there.
Scattered incidents of violence marred the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls to seven parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal.
Although no major incident was reported, scattered disturbances could not be averted despite the poll body deploying over 60,000 personnel of central forces, in addition to around 30,000 policemen, the highest number of security forces deployed in any of the phases so far in the state, the official said, adding a total of 1,992 complaints were received.
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