Over 20K Paramilitary Personnel Arrive in TN

Chennai: Ahead of the Assembly elections, a massive deployment of paramilitary forces has been completed across the state with the arrival of over 20,000 personnel to ensure a safe and smooth election process.

According to Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik, a total of 300 groups of paramilitary forces have been mobilized for election duties. He said 50 companies have already reached Tamil Nadu, while the remaining 250 companies arrived on Thursday and have significantly strengthened the security apparatus. Each company consists of approximately 70 to 90 personnel, bringing the total strength of deployed forces to over 20,000 statewide.

The forces will be strategically deployed at sensitive and critical locations to maintain law and order, assist local police and ensure peaceful elections.

The purpose of the large-scale deployment is to increase voter confidence and prevent any untoward incidents during elections. The presence of central forces will play a vital role in protecting polling stations, securing the movement of electronic voting machines and monitoring sensitive areas, officials said.

He added that additional paramilitary forces would be requisitioned if the situation warranted; This signaled that the Commission was ready to increase security arrangements in response to evolving ground conditions.