Central Armed Police Forces Archives - Lokmarg

Bengal Panchayat Elections: Central, State Security Forces Deployed On All Polling booths

By LokMarg 8th July 2023

To conduct a fair, safe and impartial election for 3,317 Gram Panchayats, 341 Panchayat Samitis and 20 Zila Parishads in West Bengal on Saturday, security forces from Centre as well as the state are deployed on all 61,636 polling booths.

The state Election Commission has set up a total 61,636 polling booths across West Bengal to conduct the election.
A total of 59,000 personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and other State Armed Police (SAP) forces have been deployed at sensitive polling booths and the rest of the troops of CAPF and SAP along with local State Police have been given the responsibility of security at the remaining polling booths.

After completion of the polling process in the evening, all the ballot boxes will be kept secured in the 339 strong rooms across the State and the responsibility to secure the strong rooms is given to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).

The polling is underway in the state and several incidents of violence were reported despite the security arrangements.

Workers of the state BJP on Saturday staged a protest outside the State Election Commission office in Kolkata. Meanwhile, voting was suspended at Indreshwar primary school in Dinhata of West Bengal’s Cooch Behar after water was thrown into the ballot box here.

In another incident, a ballot box at a polling booth in Baranachina of Dinhata in Cooch Behar district was set on fire allegedly by voters who were angry with bogus voting that was reportedly going on there.

Another incident was reported from Balutola in Gopalpur Panchayat of Malda where a clash broke out between Congress and TMC workers and bombs were hurled.

The polling booth at Baravita Primary School in Sitai of Coochbehar also was vandalised and ballot papers were set on fire.

Several other incidents of ballot box and ballot paper looting and destruction were reported from numerous polling booths in the state.

However, the voter turnout was recorded at 22.60 per cent till 11 in the morning.

Abdullah, the booth agent of an independent candidate was killed in Pirgachha of North 24 Parganas district following a protest by the villagers who demanded the arrest of the accused and alleged that the husband of TMC candidate Munna Bibi is behind the murder.

In the meantime, a 52-year-old TMC worker, Sateshuddin Sheikh was killed in Knhargram of Murshidabad.

However, the residents of Nandigram Block 1 of Purba Medinipur district said that they are boycotting the election until Central forces are deployed at booth numbers 67 and 68 in Mahammadpur No. 2 area.

A voter, Govind while speaking to ANI, said, “There is no Central force here. Booth capturing keeps happening here by TMC. They do bogus voting even in the name of the deceased. We won’t allow voting here unless Central forces come here…”

The panchayat elections are underway for a single phase, with the counting of votes scheduled on July 11.

Around 5.67 crore voters are likely to exercise their franchise to choose representatives for nearly 928 seats across 22 Zilla Parishads, 9,730 Panchayat Samiti, and 63,239 Gram Panchayats seats.

The number of village Panchayat Election centres is 58,594. There are 63,239 seats at the Gram Panchayat level, 9730 at Panchayat Samiti and 928 at the Zila Parishad level.

In 2018, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won uncontested, 34 per cent of the seats in panchayat elections, which also saw various instances of violence. Trinamool Congress has won many seats uncontestedly in the 2023 elections as well.

Following the violence, a war of words escalated between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Trinamool Congress. (ANI)

Troops Recover Huge Quantities Of Arms In Manipur

By LokMarg 3rd June 2023

The Army, Assam Rifles, police and CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces) commenced Area Domination Operations in the hills and valley area across Manipur on Saturday, said Army officials. Conducted under the surveillance cover of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Quadcopters, the operations have so far resulted in recovery of 40 weapons (mostly automatic), mortars, ammunition and other warlike stores.

As part of joint strategy for recovery of weapons, these operations are significant for restoring peace and will continue in a calibrated manner, the officials added.

During the conduct of these operations, adequate measures were undertaken to ensure that the locals are not harassed and personal safety and security is maintained, said an official statement of the Army.

Following the directions during visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Manipur Security Forces have once again appealed to all those in possession of snatched weapons to surrender the same at the earliest for ensuring peace and stability in Manipur. Security Forces also warned that failure to surrender these weapons will make all such people liable for strict legal action. (ANI)

#PulwamaRevenge – ‘CRPF A Poor Cousin’

By LokMarg Publishing 6th March 2019

I have been serving the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for over 12 years now and it has been a worthwhile ride. CISF is responsible for providing security to PSUs and major infrastructure installations across the country which include, metro stations, nuclear installations, space establishments, airports, seaports, power plants, important government buildings and heritage monuments. We are also called upon to to provide security cover to VIPs and actively participate in disaster management activities. We are constantly on high-alert at our jobs, much like army personnel. But are we accorded the same amount of respect?

The answer, unfortunately is no. Even though we carry a heavy burden of responsibility on our shoulders. The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) – which include the CISF, CRPF etc – and other paramilitary forces aren’t accorded the same amount of respect. The Pulwama attack has shown how vulnerable we, the non-defence forces are, in the face of danger.

The Pulwama attack left me shocked and angry. I am glad that the government took a quick and decisive action with its air strikes at Balakot. At least we got a temporary feeling of closure. The previous governments would have just lived on in the ‘hope’ of situations changing and not taking any decisive action. However, this doesn’t mean I do not want to question the huge lapse of intelligence agencies that led to the Pulwama attack. The government should have taken better care of the logistical needs of the CRPF personnel.

While the armed forces are the ‘first line of defence’ in war situations, forces like CRPF and CISF are ‘first line of defence’ in almost any kind of situation. And we have restricted powers when it comes to using the arms we have. I feel it is now important for the top brass to talk to personnel, who constitute this ‘first line of defence’. After all, we are the ones who see the enemy/perpetrators from close quarters.

The Pulwama attack also led the common man to think about the implications of a war and war-like situations. The ‘first line of defence’ now has a human face. We too have families that worry about us when we are out performing our respective duties. At the end of the day our concerns are same as that of any the common man: that our families be financially sound, healthy and safe. I strongly feel that major issues such as, the economy, healthcare, and education are not side-lined in the name of just protecting ourselves from external threats. I have been a BJP supporter and will continue to vouch for Narendra Modi’s second stint as the Prime Minister. But that doesn’t mean that I would not question the government’s decisions.

The CAPF constitutes the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB). The paramilitary forces are Coast Guard, Assam Rifles and Special Frontier Force (and other forces like NSG- National Security Guard and RR- Rashtriya Rifles). They all come under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs and are governed by the Civil Service rules, that allows them to serve till their superannuation. However, if they can also choose they can take voluntary retirement after 20 years of service. But in either case they are not accorded with ex-servicemen status. After retirement they have to search for jobs just like an ordinary civilian, which is hard to come by.

Be it the Parliament attack, numerous Naxal attacks across the country or even attacks during election duties, we are always in the line of fire and yet we don’t get the facilities or even status of a martyr, in case someone loses their lives during service. Be it industrial conflict or those related to militancy or terrorism, life is at risk everywhere.

We need to feel cared for and respected to function at the optimum.The name and certain facts were withheld by LokMarg on the request of the narrator. Photo used is representational.