Poll panel promises more security for Bengal

Kolkata, March 25 (IANS) West Bengal will have "adequate" and more companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) compared to the last general election, a senior Election Commission official said Tuesday.

Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi also mentioned the public broadcast of poll webcasting in critical and sensitive polling booths.

"Let me assure you that security arrangements will be adequate ... CAPF deployment will be very large and the best in any state.

"It would be many times more than the 2009 election. All the sensitive areas will be covered totally. We will also have mobile CAPF parties and quick response teams," he told reporters here after reviewing the law and order situation in the state.

He designated 20 to 25 percent of the total polling booths in the state as "sensitive".

Security force deployment will start a week or 10 days before actual poll phase, he said.

In a "revolutionary move", videos streamed during webcasting in sensitive booths will be made available on the public domain, he said about the pan-Indian initiative.

"This was optional in the last general election. However, for the first time, we have adopted it as a policy and in a first, videos will be available to the public," he said.

Zutshi also said the commission would be "coming down heavily" on movement of unaccounted cash.

The district magistrates and district police superintendents have been asked to take "prompt action" in case of violations of the model code of conduct.