West Bengal's Final Voters' List Release Sparks Police Preparedness
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Key Takeaways
Kolkata, February 28 (NationPress) The final voters' list for West Bengal is set to be released today, prompting police forces to prepare for any potential situations that may arise.
A police directive issued late Friday night emphasized the need for heightened mobilization at battalion headquarters.
Division and unit leaders have been instructed to withdraw personnel from non-essential tasks and maintain them on standby to address any issues following the release of the final voters' list.
In advance of the elections, the initial 240 companies from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) are already arriving in West Bengal in multiple batches starting Friday for deployment on March 1.
This first wave includes 110 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 55 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF), 21 companies of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), 27 companies of the Indo-Tibetan Police Force (ITBP), and 27 companies of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
This deployment of CAPF ahead of the announcement of polling dates and the initiation of the model code of conduct is unprecedented.
A second wave of 240 additional companies is scheduled for deployment on March 10.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has mandated that all vehicles assigned to CAPF personnel, starting March 1 during the crucial Assembly elections, will be equipped with GPS trackers. This measure allows Commission-appointed observers to monitor the effective utilization of deployed forces from the outset.
Furthermore, the ECI has clearly stated that deployed CAPF companies cannot remain idle; instead, they must engage in area domination and familiarize themselves with the state's geography from day one.