NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to mobilise troops in areas considered sensitive, officials in the know of the development said.
In the first phase, more than 3.4 lakh CAPF personnel will start moving to the sensitive areas from Friday (March 1) for familiarisation with the areas, the officials said.
Along with the general elections, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will go for assembly polls for which the Election Commission is likely to announce dates soon.
“The plan is to mobilise around 2,000 companies as part of the pre-poll deployment in sensitive and hyper-sensitive constituencies beginning March 1. Another 1.5 lakh personnel will move through roads and rail as part of this mobilisation,” an official said wishing not to be named.
“The first CAPF units will start reaching the states affected by left-wing extremism (LWE), and also West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir by this weekend. The second batch of the forces is expected to start moving towards their areas of deployment from March 7. The last units will be sent in the second and third week of March,” the official said.
MHA sources said the commanding officers of the units to be deployed have been directed to familiarise their troops about the areas they are going for polls duty apart from the instructions issued by the EC.
The troops of CAPF companies are drawn from CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB.
During a recent meeting with MHA officials, EC requisitioned over 3,400 companies of CAPFs and police forces to ensure free and fair polls.
2K CAPF companies in hyper-sensitive seats
The plan is to mobilise around 2,000 companies as part of the pre-poll deployment in sensitive and hyper-sensitive constituencies beginning March 1. Another 1.5 lakh personnel will move through roads and rail as part of this mobilisation, said an official