A 2010-batch IPS officer, Dhar was appointed the Superintendent of Police of Cooch Behar by the Election Commission during the 2021 Assembly elections. He was suspended by the West Bengal government after the polls during which four people were killed at Sitalkuchi in the district by alleged firing by central forces.
He was also questioned by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) over his role in the post-poll violence. Even after his suspension was lifted, he was in compulsory wait for three years until he resigned on March 20. Dhar’s resignation was accepted by the President on Friday.
In an interview to a Bengali news channel, Dhar said, “I was not suspended over the Sitalkuchi incident. In my suspension letter, the reason for my suspension was mentioned that I didn’t act properly during the post-poll violence. There was no mention of the Sitalkuchi incident in my suspension letter…I was the only SP who was successful in arresting 132 people within two days of the incident. I had done that post the Sitalkuchi violence.”
Talking about if the central forces were at fault for the Sitalkuchi incident, he said, “The deployment of central forces is based on the Election Commission’s guidelines where the SP has no role. The District Magistrate is in charge of that. During elections, the most powerful official is a District Magistrate. As far as I remember, it was booth number 126 and 85 per cent of the population was minority. There was an intersection point where troubles were being reported every now and then. A group of women were coming to exercise their franchise but a clash took place and stone pelting vandalism was reported. To disperse the mob they had fired in the open. Everyone started running and in that chaos a minor fell on the ground. Then, a rumour spread that due to over-activeness of the central forces a child was killed.”
Dhar said the CID questioning he faced over his role was “unfair” as his report about the incident was “based on true facts”. “I prepared a report based on the facts. It had the DM’s signature and mine. I don’t know why and how all the blame was put on me? The CID had questioned me as an eyewitness but the process in which I was grilled wasn’t appropriate or good. It is the result of all this that I am here contesting an election,” he said.
“If you want to work for the people, you can do it in many ways. As a cop you also do a lot of social work. Post-Covid, such community-based policing involving society has increased. For a long period during my suspension and compulsory waiting, I worked with many missions and social organisations. I believe man proposes God disposes. Ultimately, it is what God wants,” said Dhar.
Dhar also said he still shares a good relationship with Shatabadi Roy, who is the TMC candidate from Birbhum. “She is a three-time MP. My personal relationship with her is extremely good. I call her Didi. The fight in Birbhum would be against two political parties and their ideologies,” he said. “The Election Commission had sent him to Cooch Behar for Assembly elections in 2021. Four villagers were killed in the firing by central forces at Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar. After that he was suspended by the state government. The state CID was probing the case. This officer is under the scanner. The CID started collecting various documents after starting an investigation into the officer’s property. It is known from there that the officer’s property has increased several hundred times between 2015-17,” said TMC leader Satabdi Roy.
The BJP, meanwhile, reiterated that Dhar’s suspension was political vendetta by the TMC as he presented the “actual report” of the firing incident.
BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya said,”Everyone in Bengal saw what happened to Dhar and in what kind of difficult situation he tried to maintain law and order situation. It is the government that wants to do divisive politics. Now, he has been given a ticket (by the BJP), I am sure people of Birbhum will support him. It is not just Dhar, there are many cops whose careers have been finished by this government. I have never seen a party as vindictive and revengeful in nature as the TMC.”