Parliament panel likely to discuss role of Central Armed Police Force in West Bengal

: The Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs may consider discussing the role of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in West Bengal as the panel chairman, BJP lawmaker Radha Mohan Das Agarwal accepted a proposal mooted by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, people aware of the matter said.

At a meeting on Wednesday, Derek O’Brien of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC group gave the chairperson a three-page letter urging him to discuss “the role of CAPF in the police atrocities and brutality ongoing in West Bengal”, the people said. The TMC MP had also circulated the letter among other members.

A senior functionary, privy to the information, said, “Agarwal read out two pages of the letter, which was seen as recording the matter in the minutes, before asking if the issue can be widened to cover the CAPF role in general instead of focusing only on West Bengal.”

The panel met to hear the views of the Ministry of Law and Justice on the subject ‘Crime against Children’ and the views of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) on the subject ‘Implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes in North-Eastern States’.

The letter, among other things, pointed out that over 240,000 CAPF personnel were deployed during the 2026 assembly polls in West Bengal, while 340,000 CAPF personnel were deployed across the country during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The letter claimed that over 700 companies, or around 70,000 CAPF personnel, remained deployed in West Bengal post-poll to prevent violence. It claimed that violence incidents were still reported, with Trinamool Congress workers and supporters being mostly targeted, another functionary said.

According to MPs who attended the meeting, most members agreed to holding the discussion, and the chairperson assured that the issue would be taken up soon.

A senior leader said, “Rajya Sabha MP and BJP’s Bengal state chief Shamik Bhattacharya raised objections and narrated atrocities committed by the earlier Trinamool government in West Bengal since 2021. Agarwal assured that Bhattacharya can raise his issues when the CAPF would be taken up.”

To be sure, it is not clear when O’Brian’s issue would be taken up.

When contacted, Agarwal told HT, “I am the chairman of the panel. I cannot divulge what happened in the meeting.”

The issue comes against the backdrop of the TMC and the BJP accusing each other of carrying out attacks against their members and supporters.