Bengal tightens security as post-SIR voter rolls released

Kolkata: The West Bengal government has asked the police to tighten security across the state in view of the release of the post-SIR electoral rolls on Saturday, officials said.

Senior officials, including the home secretary and the director general of police, would be present at the state secretariat to monitor the situation during the day, they said.

The state secretariat has issued alerts to police superintendents in North and South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Nadia and districts in north Bengal, one of the officials said.


The offices of the DGP and the inspector general of police instructed all units to remain on "extreme readiness", he said.

"All units have been asked to stay in a state of extreme readiness in view of the publication of the final SIR list," the official said.

The 'Nabanna' (state secretariat) control room has also been directed to stay on alert so that "immediate action can be taken upon receiving any report of unrest from any part of the state", he added.

"We are taking no chances as the post-SIR electoral rolls are being released today and there are Dol Yatra and Holi festivities next week," another official said.

The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday began publishing the post-SIR electoral rolls in West Bengal in phases, with figures from Bankura district indicating that around 1.18 lakh names have been deleted since the exercise commenced.

Hard copies of the updated rolls were put up in districts, including Bankura and Cooch Behar, even as the lists were yet to be made available online on the designated EC portals and mobile application till reports last received.