SIR row: Center provides security to West Bengal CEO Agarwal

The Center has provided an armed security cover to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal in view of the possible threat due to the ongoing SIR exercise in the state, officials said on Sunday.

Aggarwal has been provided Y-Plus category cover of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in Kolkata following an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Delhi on December 26, he said.

Officials said a team of 11-12 armed personnel of the CISF VIP Security Wing has been deployed for personal and home security of Agarwal.

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He said the cover had become necessary after central agencies gave inputs about potential threats to the officer in view of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Saturday accused the Election Commission (EC) of removing the names of lakhs of valid voters from the voter list under the SIR process to help the BJP ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections and a party delegation also sent a memorandum to Agarwal in this regard.