CISF finalises deployment at RG Kar Hospital

Kolkata, Aug 22 (IANS) The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has finalised the deployment of its personnel at state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata and is expected to take place later in the day, said officials here on Thursday.

As per the information available so far, around 150 CISF personnel, little less than two companies, will be deployed at RG. Kar. The entire deployment will be under the command of an officer in the rank of assistant commandant, who will be assisted by three officers in the ranks of inspectors.However, an insider from the state government said that a minor confusion remained about who would be bearing the cost of the CISF deployment at the hospital. He added, that in all probability the state government will have to ultimately bear the cost since that is the general practice.

Even when CAPFs are deployed in different states during the elections, the cost is borne by the respective state governments.The CISF started the preparations for the deployment on Wednesday, with its Deputy Inspector General K. Pratap holding a series of meetings both with the hospital authorities as well as the top officials of Kolkata Police.

It is learnt that while CISF personnel will be mainly responsible for the security of the inner tier within the hospital premises, the outer tier -- outside the hospital gate -- will rest with the Kolkata Police.

The CISF deployment has been prompted by a clear instruction from the Supreme Court earlier this week. The apex court ordered the deployment of personnel from any Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) in the wake of the rape and murder of a woman doctor within the hospital premises earlier this month.The apex court acknowledged the necessity of deploying central forces at the R.G. Kar premises after it was brought to the notice of the court that the majority of the resident doctors, both male and female, had vacated the hospital hostel, following the vandalism at the emergency department of the hospital by outsider anti-social elements after the midnight of August 14.