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.
The TMC MP had also circulated the letter among other members.
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. 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.”
It claimed that violence incidents were still reported, with Trinamool Congress workers and supporters being mostly targeted, another functionary said. Agarwal assured that Bhattacharya can raise his issues when the CAPF would be taken up. Also Read I BJP set to gain one seat in upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, BSP may draw blank To be sure, it is not clear when O’Brian’s issue would be taken up. 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.
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. 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.
Because of zero enrolment; mulling possibility of reviving them: Government 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’, also Read I 933 West Bengal schools shut.
Most members agreed to holding the discussion, and the chairperson assured that the issue would be taken up soon, according to MPs who attended the meeting. When contacted, Agarwal told HT, “I am the chairman of the panel.
