11,000 CAPF personnel to stay on in Delhi as deployment extended

The additional forces bring the total to around 221 companies, working alongside Delhi Police to manage law and order.

The Centre has extended the deployment of central armed police force (CAPF) personnel in Delhi until further orders amid a series of protests across the Capital, people aware of the matter said on Monday.

The personnel were to stay in Delhi till Monday night. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Around 110 companies, comprising nearly 11,000 personnel, were scheduled to leave on the night of October 12 after being deployed in Delhi on October 6 from across the country, including Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal. The forces were mobilised ahead of the October 10 protest announced by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), amid demonstrations by several groups.

“We have been told the forces will stay put in Delhi until further orders. This is due to the developing law and order situation across Delhi. The ministry is likely to issue an order tomorrow regarding the exact date until which they will remain here,” a person aware of the matter said.

The additional deployment took the number of CAPF companies in Delhi to around 221, including 111 already stationed in the city. Of the 110 additional companies, 85 were from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 10 from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), seven from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and one from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), people aware of the matter said. The remaining contingent included personnel from other central forces.

Each company has a sanctioned strength of 120-130 personnel, of whom around 75-80 are generally deployed. The forces will work alongside Delhi Police personnel to manage law and order.

The deployment comes as protests have spread across the city, with police preventing demonstrators from entering Jantar Mantar, which was also de-notified as a designated protest site on Monday. Delhi Police has had to send reinforcements to different locations to manage gatherings.

The scale of the deployment is among the largest in the Capital since February 2020, when the city saw the Assembly elections, the visit of then US president Donald Trump and the northeast Delhi riots.

On Monday, thousands of protesters led by INDIA bloc members marched on Barakhamba Road in central Delhi, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Supreme Court lawyers also held a march in the area. Meanwhile, the Delhi units of the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party held protests and counter-protests.

The government may deploy further reinforcements if the law-and-order situation deteriorates, people aware of the matter said.