Amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal and Assembly elections only months away, the Mamata Banerjee government on Thursday carried out a major police reshuffle, transferring at least 10 district police chiefs (Superintendent of Police) and shifting over 30 officers at several important police posts across the state.
Officials at the state secretariat, Nabanna, however, termed the reshuffle a “routine” administrative exercise.
Among the key transfers notified by the Home and Hill Affairs Department – Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holds the Home Department portfolio – Jhargram SP Arijit Sinha has been appointed DIG, Midnapore Range. Manav Singla is the new SP of Jhargram.
Bankura SP Vaibhav Tiwari has been moved to Purulia, where he replaced Avijit Banerjee.
IPS officer Avijit Banerjee has been made SP of Malda, and Pradeep Kumar Yadav, who was SP of Malda, has been posted as SP, Traffic, Uttar Dinajpur.
Yadav’s tenure in Malda had been eventful and controversial, marked by the back-to-back killings of several TMC leaders, including Dulalchandra ‘Babla’ Sarkar earlier this year and Ekramuk Sheikh this morning. His stint also saw unrest in Manikchak, where police faced allegations of opening fire on protesters, an episode that repeatedly put the district police under scrutiny.
In north Bengal, IPS officer Y Raghuwamshi and Khandbahale Umesh Ganpat swapped their positions. While Raghuwamshi moves to Jalpaiguri as the district’s SP, Ganpat moves to Alipurduar.
In the intelligence setup, Sachin, Senior Superintendent, IB, West Bengal, has been posted as DC, New Town, under the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate. Paschim Medinipur SP Dhritiman Sarkar replaces him, taking over as Senior Superintendent, IB.
Raiganj SP Md Sana Akhtar has been shifted to the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate as DC, West Zone, another politically sensitive industrial cluster.
IPS officer Sonawane Kuldip Suresh, whose posting as SP, Raiganj Police District, cancels an earlier posting as DC, West Zone, Asansol Durgapur PC.
Other significant transfers include –Soumyadip Bhattacharya will be SP Bankura from Purba Medinipur, Palash Chandra Dhali moves to Paschim Medinipur as SP from Baruipur, and Shubhendra Kumar has been made SP Baruipur Police District from the post of Additional SP (Rural), Purba Medinipur.
A conspicuous gap has emerged in Purba Midnapore, the stronghold of Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
The outgoing SP, Soumyadip Bhattacharya, has been moved to Bankura, but the government has not named his successor.
Even the district’s Additional SP (Sadar), Nikhil Agarwal, has been transferred, leaving the key coastal district without its full supervisory leadership.
Meanwhile, officers of the West Bengal Police Service (WBPS) have also been reshuffled. Siddharth Dorji has been posted as Additional SP, Lalbagh in Murshidabad district. Soutam Banerjee has been posted as Additional SP, Paschim Medinipur.
The reshuffle comes days after the transfer of 175 police inspectors. While the government has reiterated that the transfers were made “in the interest of public service,” political parties are expected to pore over the postings closely.