KOLKATA: In its ninth mass transfer order involving 59 officers, the Election Commission on Saturday transferred Kolkata’s joint commissioners (crime, headquarters, and intelligence), along with five DCPs —including DCP (South) — and six OCs. Such mass transfers— 542 officers have been transferred since March 16 — have never happened in Bengal during any general election.
The transfers come against the backdrop of the April 2 BJP-Trinamool fracas during Union home minister Amit Shah’s Bhowanipore rally and the April 1 protests at the EC’s Strand Road offices.
Two days after the April 2 incident, the EC suspended four senior Kolkata Police officers, including the DCP (II) South, and ordered disciplinary proceedings against them. Rupesh Kumar, the outgoing joint commissioner (crime), was singled out by Bengal opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari for bias.Kumar will be replaced by Soma Das Mitra, DIG CID. Das Mitra headed the Bengal SIT Sandeshkhali probe, which the Calcutta High Court later handed over to the CBI. Sudeep Sarkar will be the new joint commissioner (headquarters) and Debasmita Das, the DIG Bengal STF, will be the joint commissioner (intelligence). Kumar, who was handling the dual charge of crime and traffic, will now remain only as joint commissioner (traffic). Among the DCPs, VSR Ananthnag will be the new DCP (South) and Saikat Ghosh will be the new DCP (South East). The DCPs of the North, East, and Bhangor divisions have also been changed. Immediately after this list of 12 IPS officers, the EC issued another transfer list. On this list, vacancies at the Alipore police station — resulting from the suspension of both OC Priyankar Chakraborty and additional OC Chandi Charan Banerjee following the April 2 incident — were filled by Tapan Nath, appointed OC, and Chameli Mukherjee, appointed additional OC. Salil Kumar Roy has been brought in as an ACP to head the DD’s Anti-Rowdy Squad. Sourav Bhattacharjee has been asked to take over as Kasba OC, the post that has been lying vacant. Six days after appointing Biswajit Debnath as the Kasba OC, the EC removed him after he reportedly failed to mention Sona Pappu as a history-sheeter in his report to the EC. The OCs of Burtolla, Phoolbagan, and Ultadanga were also changed in this mass transfer. The third and last part of the transfer order, involving 29 Bengal police officers, included posting new officers in Barrackpore, Bhatpara, Bijpur, Naihati, Noapara, Halisahar, Mohanpur, and Basudebpur, effectively shifting all officers in the industrial belt under the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate.
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In the Diamond Harbour police district, the officers heading Mograhat, Usthi, and Kakdwip have been replaced. Three transfers each were also made in the Darjeeling district and the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate.
