MHA to deploy additional 455 CAPFs' companies in UP

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will deploy an additional 455 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) for the rest of the four rounds of polling in the UP assembly elections, sources in the ministry said.

This additional deployment of 455 companies will have personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force and Sashastra Seema Bal.

The sources said that these CAPFs companies will be relieved from Uttarakhand and Punjab where the one day polls were conducted on February 14 and 20 respectively.

As of now around 60,000 security personnel including 6860 Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors are already deployed in the state.

The Ministry has decided to deploy around over 80,000 of the security personnel for poll duty in various sensitive areas during the fourth phase on February 23, fifth on February 27, sixth on March 3 and the last phase on March 7.

Sources in the security grid also said that over 200 CAPFs' companies which were stationed in the state in January this year before the first phase of polling on February 10 will return to their respective frontiers and will be replaced by this additional deployment in Uttar Pradesh.

The Union Home Ministry has asked nodal officers of para-military forces' to coordinate with the UP government and district authorities for their respective deployment as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India.

The MHA has also asked the security forces to keep 50 companies of para-military forces located in UP on standby in case the need arises during the rest of the four rounds of polling.

In the first week of January this year, the MHA had given a green signal for the first movement of CAPFs to election-bound states. A total of 225 companies of different CAPFs moved to Uttar Pradesh in January for area domination.