Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): An estimated 1000 companies of the Central Armed Police Force are expected to be deployed for the forthcoming state assembly polls to be held on November 17. The number of polling stations at present is 64,523 and around 5.60 crore voters will exercise their franchise.
To conduct free and fair elections, the state needs a sufficient number of police force and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to maintain peaceful polling.
The state nodal officer IG Anurag told Free Press on Wednesday that in 2018-elections, the state got 650 companies of CAPF.
“We have 60,000 district forces as well as state police force at present. Besides, around 10,000 home guards and around 7,000 SAF personnel will be deployed”, he said.
He said they have asked for an extra 1000 companies. “The numbers we have at present are 75. The manpower is woefully small. In the 2018 polls, we had 650 companies,” he added.
“Although the number is not much, still the security personnel have done a commendable job to ensure security,” he claimed.
They have been deputed at the inter-state borders to check the flow of cash, liquor and firearms in the state. He said the deployments have started giving results as huge quantities of cash and other items have recently been seized with the help of local police.
According to him, an additional 30 to 50 companies are needed for the Naxal-infested districts comprising Balaghat, Dindori and Mandla.
Meanwhile, the police have begun training its personnel on how to deal with untoward situations during elections. Till date more than 74,000 police personnel had been given training for the purpose.
At the district-level, the training was given to police station in-charges, SDOPs, home guards, forest guards, Kotwar and special armed forces.
Training list
Number of police personnel got training in three phases, special director general-1, ADG-7, IG-10, DIG- 1, SP -66, Additional SP-154, DSP-448, inspector-1431, sub inspector-4496, assistant sub inspector-7921, head constable-15601, constable-42450, home guards-1684, forest guards-27 and others- 192. Total=74,489
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