Kolkata: On poll break, CAPF men go shopping, try out sweets

KOLKATA: A group of CAPF personnel in civil dress had just returned from Gariahat, where they had gone shopping. While some were busy trying out the best sweets in the Rashbehari area, others were just lazying around watching movies on their cellphones or playing cards. The 137 companies of central forces, who have been asked to stay back in the city at least till May 27 following the post-election clash in Bhatpara and Kakinara, made the most of their leisure time after a gruelling seven-phase polling.
“Though the elections had started on April 11, we were deputed on April 4 for our first election posting this year at Jammu and Kashmir.We had stayed there for the entire five phases before we were asked to move to Kharagpur. We reached Kolkata on May 13 and were immediately deployed in route marches and area domination. Only after May 19, we got a little breather for two days. We will get to know the schedule on Wednesday morning and will start leaving for respective counting venues by the evening,” said a senior CRPF officer, who along with his company are camping at a school in Mudiali.

TOI visited three such centres in south Kolkata were the CAPF personnel have been camping and enjoying a two-day break before joining duty. A CAPF constable, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, was found singing a 90s Bollywood song while checking his Facebook posts on cellphone. Another one was found discussing with a colleague whether to visit New Market or Gariahat in the evening. The officer said he had scribbled the names of the markets on a piece of paper as suggested by some local policemen while he was on duty at a booth on Sunday.
“We don’t get much break. But these two days are extremely cherished. Once we are done with our daily routine of exercises, we either visit the market or take short trips around the city. Kolkata being the first big city, where we have been posted, most of us are doing some shopping to take the specialities back home for our families,” said a CRPF constable, who hails from Chhattisgarh.
Another CRPF officer from Darjeeling said that in the past one week, he had developed a sweet tooth for rosogolla and mishti doi. He also enjoyed singaras of Kolkata. “The people are very nice here and so are the sweets. I have fallen in love with the city’s snacks and will pack some of them back when I move out of Kolkata,” said the assistant sub inspector.
Though the CAPF personnel were slated to leave the state after the results, their stay was increased till May 27 following back-to-back post-poll clashes at Bhatpara and Kakinada.