 They were deployed whenever serious communal riots broke out and when the Civil Police found itself unable to suppress violent elements defying the authority of the state and endangering lives and property.Before 1956 the duties performed by the Eastern Frontier Rifles Battalion were in connection with the communal troubles and border skirmishes within the state of West Bengal.In 1956 the Battalion was deputed to Manipur and the Naga Hills for suppression of the Naga insurgency.