26 senior cops deployed on Calcutta fringes to reinforce security during final phase of polls
Telegraph | 29 April 2026
Twenty-six senior police officers from across the state have been posted at six police districts on the city’s fringes, outside Kolkata Police jurisdiction, to reinforce security and manage law and order during Wednesday’s polls.
Of the 26 officers, four have been posted to Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, including an additional superintendent of police from Lalbag in Murshidabad and three sub-divisional police officers (SDPOs) from Islampur, Ghatal and Naxalbari.
The deployment order followed an incident on Monday in which Trinamool Congress worker Prosenjit Moulik sustained a bullet injury at Halisahar in North 24-Parganas.
A day earlier, a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan sustained a bullet injury to his leg when shots were allegedly fired outside BJP candidate Pawan Singh’s residence in Bhatpara, also in North 24-Parganas. Pawan is the son of BJP leader Arjun Singh.
Both Halisahar and Bhatpara fall under the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, which oversees parts of the industrial belt as well as urban and semi-urban areas with a large migrant worker population.
“These 26 officers will be part of a team of 95 police observers deployed across 142 Assembly constituencies going to the polls on Wednesday,” a senior IPS officer said.
“All of them joined their duties on Tuesday,” he added.
Apart from Barrackpore, the officers — including several IPS officers — will be deployed across Howrah Police Commissionerate, Howrah rural, Diamond Harbour, Baruipur, Basirhat, Krishnanagar, East Burdwan, Chandannagar, Bongaon, Sundarbans and Ranaghat.
“These officers have been drawn from districts where polling concluded in the first phase. The aim is to bolster the existing force and enable more intensive, city-style policing on the lines of Calcutta,” the senior state police officer said.
Sources said all these officers — who have extensive experience conducting elections — met their senior counterparts in the respective police districts. They collected data on the number of sensitive and super-sensitive booths, the deployment plan for central forces and areas requiring area domination during the polls on Wednesday.
Each of these officers will have a team of police personnel at their disposal. Their areas of dominance and supervision were specified immediately after they joined their duties, sources said.
“Some of the police districts going to the polls on Wednesday have sensitive pockets with mixed populations. The role of these 26 officers will be crucial in ensuring swift intervention by the police and central forces in case of any poll-related violence,” an officer said.