CAPF deployed in 85 pc polling booths of East Tripura LS seat

Calling upon voters to exercise franchise without fear, Director General of Police A K Shukla said Monday central forces have been deployed in 85 per cent of over 1600 booths in East Tripura (ST) Lok Sabha seat, where polls were postponed in view of the law and order situation.

Addressing a press meet, Shukla said the Election Commission (EC) has sent 42 additional companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) for the second phase, taking the total number of companies deputed in the constituency to 108.

"We have deployed adequate forces in various locations of the constituency and patrolling has been initiated in remote and vulnerable areas.

"Altogether, 90 static surveillance teams (SST) and as many as flying squad teams (FST) will keep a tab on the flow of money and liquor," he said.

The EC deferred elections in East Tripura Lok Sabha seat from April 18 to April 23, stating that the atmosphere in the state was not conducive for holding elections.

The poll panel also shunted Additional Director General of Police Rajiv Singh for his alleged failure to thwart incidents pertaining to law and order in the lead up to the parliamentary polls.

Shukla said the "CAPF personnel will be manning 85 per cent of the 1,645 polling booths".

"We have also arranged 197 police mobile teams and 113 police barricades in East Tripura constituency. I want to assure the people that tight security measures were taken to stop all malpractices. No miscreant will be spared if found flouting rules," the DGP said.

Both international and interstate borders have been sealed and the BSF activated in vulnerable areas.

The Tripura Police have so far registered 107 election-related complaints - 34 cases in the East and 73 in the West, Shukla added.

A total of 12,61,861 electorate - 6,41,515 male, 6,20,342 female and four of the third gender - will decide the fate of 10 candidates in East Tripura seat, spread across six districts, an election official said.

Prominent among those in the fray are BJP candidate Rebati Mohan Tripura, sitting MP Jitendra Chowdhury of the CPI(M) and Pragya Dev Burman of the Congress.

The BJP has promised to implement National Register of Citizens, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and a pension scheme for farmers, if it is re-elected to power at the Centre.

The Congress, on the other hand, has assured voters that it would scrap the citizenship legislation and empower the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous Territorial Council.

The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura ( IPFT), an ally of the ruling BJP in the state, is going it alone in the Lok Sabha polls.