About 100 women personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force will be deployed in the violence-hit areas of Nandigram taking in view that a large number of women and children were among the victims in the recent clashes.
Asked when the all-women company would be pressed into service, deputy inspector general operations, CRPF, Alok Raj said, "We are discussing the matter with our additional deputy general N R Das, who toured the area. We will soon take a decision on the issue".
The women's wing is now lodged in Naikuri, about 30 km from Nandigram. "We will feel less insecure when this women's wing is deployed. We hope to return home with our children if these women are put on duty in our villages," said Malati Adhikari of Gokulnagar, which has witnessed large-scale violence recently.
"We aren't going home as we are afraid of being physically assaulted. And we may become victims of the worst form of atrocity," said a visibly shaken Adhikari, sitting at the relief camp in the Brajamohan Tiwary Shikshaniketan.
At Naikuri, the women personnel were seen doing drills and combat exercises. "We are ready for deployment the moment we are given orders," said the company's commanding officer Seema. The company also has a dog squad including a Labrador, which is an expert in sniffing explosive materials, she said.
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