IANS
Agartala, March 29
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]op paramilitary forces, including the CRPF, Assam Rifles and Border Security Force, will be deployed in insurgency-hit areas of the northeastern region during the Lok Sabha polls, officials said on Friday.
“Central paramilitary forces and state security forces would be deployed as part of three-tier security arrangements in militancy-prone areas of the northeastern region,” a top Assam Rifles official told IANS.
“Central Reserve Police Force, Assam Rifles and Border Security Force would be posted in extremist-prone areas,” he said.
Polling stations in such areas have been categorised as “hyper-sensitive”.“Though militancy has largely been tamed in the northeast, we should not be complacent, specially before and during the election,” the official said.
He said air and surface surveillance would be further reinforced, and the BSF has been asked to be on high alert along the Bangladesh border.
“The Election Commission is closely monitoring the deployment of security, and law and order situation. Each state government has been sending daily reports on the law and order situation to the commission,” the official said.
Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya will go to the polls April 9, while Manipur will see two-phase polling April 9 and 17. Tripura will vote April 7 and 12, while polling in Assam will be held in three phase April 7, 12 and 24.
Four northeastern states - Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam - share an 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, while Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share a 1,640-km unfenced border with Myanmar.
