800 TSR personnel to be deployed for Assam, West Bengal assembly polls

Around 800 personnel of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) will be deployed to assist in election duties in Assam and West Bengal, officials said.

Voting for the 294-member West Bengal Legislative Assembly will be held in two phases — April 23 (152 seats) and April 29 (142 seats), while polling for the 126-member Assam Legislative Assembly is scheduled for April 9. Counting of votes in both states will take place on May 4.

A senior Tripura Police officer told India Today NE that the deployment follows a request from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

“Accordingly, we will send 10 companies of Tripura State Rifles. Initially, they will be deployed in Assam, and later they will proceed to West Bengal,” the officer said.

The contingent will include around 800 jawans from the ad hoc battalion and will be led by Amarjit Debbarma, IPS, Commandant of the 9th Battalion, and Alak Bhattacharya, Commanding Officer of the 8th Battalion. The personnel are expected to leave Tripura for Assam on March 23 or 24.

The Tripura State Rifles was raised in the 1980s amid growing insurgency in the state, on the pattern of Central Paramilitary Forces. The Tripura Legislative Assembly subsequently enacted the Tripura State Rifles Act, 1983, under which the 1st Battalion of TSR came into existence on March 12, 1984. Over the years, additional battalions were raised, and at present, the state has 12 TSR battalions, including nine India Reserve (IR) battalions.