1 CAPF company for each Bengal panchayat counting centre, Calcutta HC told

The West Bengal state election commission had earlier asked the Centre for 822 CAPF companies for the panchayat elections

KOLKATA: Each of West Bengal’s 339 centres to count the votes cast for the panchayat elections will be guarded by one company of central armed police force (CAPF), the state election commission (SEC) told the Calcutta high court on Monday. The counting of votes for the three-tier panchayat polls will be held on Tuesday.

The state election commission’s assurance to the Calcutta high court came a day before counting of votes of the panchayat elections

“There are 339 counting centres across the state. Each would be guarded by one company of central armed police force along with state armed police,” Jishnu Saha, who appeared for SEC, told the high court. A company of a central police force typically has a sanctioned strength of about 135; the operational strength of a company is about 80-90 personnel after accounting for vacancies, leaves and other duties.

The state poll panel, which has the mandate for conducting panchayat and urban local body elections, had sought 822 CAPF companies. Only 649 companies could arrive on the polling day. By Monday afternoon, there were more than 800 companies in the state.

“Each strong room would be guarded by one company of central forces… They would remain at the counting centres till the results are announced,” said a senior BSF officer. Of them, BSF will deploy one to two sections (each section comprises around 9 personnel) in areas around the counting centres to prevent any kind of violence near the centres

Apart from the 339 companies posted for security of the counting centres, the other 460 companies would be deployed in areas where there are chances of post-poll violence. The central forces will seek the help of the state police in sensitive locations.

“Our troops and quick reaction teams will patrol the areas to build confidence among the locals. The troops would immediately respond to any kind of adverse situation,” said the BSF officer quoted above.

Last week, the high court ordered that central paramilitary forces will remain stationed in the state for at least 10 days after the announcement of panchayat poll results to prevent post-poll violence.

Massive post-poll violence erupted after the results of the 2021 assembly elections were declared on May 2, 2021.