Bengal, Kol get new top cops in major pre-poll police rejig
Times of India | 31 January 2026
Kolkata: In possibly the last major reshuffle of police brass before the assembly elections, Bengal govt on Friday appointed Peeyush Pandey as acting director general of police and Supratim Sarkar as the new Kolkata Police commissioner. The police commissioners of Bidhannagar, Howrah, Barrackpore and Chandernagore were also changed.
With DGP Rajeev Kumar set to retire on Saturday, a change in the police top brass was expected but the extent and spread of the transfers took everyone by surprise.
Caught in a bind over UPSC's reluctance to follow a CAT order asking it to pick three names for DGP from a list of eight sent by Bengal, the state appointed Pandey as acting DGP. A 1993-batch IPS officer, Pandey is an IIT Kanpur M Tech who also has a degree in law. He was made Director (Security) in 2022 after a security breach in CM Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat home when a person tried to sneak in with arms. With past experience in the SPG, Pandey was in charge of the state's revamped VVIP security wing till now.
Current Kolkata Police commissioner Manoj Varma will replace Pandey as Director (Security).
Presidency College Economics alumnus and 1997-batch IPS officer Supratim Sarkar, who goes from being ADG (South Bengal) to Kolkata Police chief, has worked extensively in the city police force, even as an additional police commissioner.
The state govt has also brought in Vineet Goyal as ADG (Law and Order) and moved incumbent Jawed Shamim to take charge of the Bengal Special Task Force (STF). Goyal was made the STF chief after being moved out as Kolkata Police commissioner when the Bengal govt was dousing the RG Kar flames.
ADG (Law and Order) is a key post during elections as the officer is tasked with liaising with the Election Commission and CAPF units at a time the model code of conduct is in place. Another notable transfer is that of Anuj Sharma, the DGP (Armed Police), who will take over as DGP (Fire), replacing Ranveer Kumar, who retires on Saturday. This is significant as it comes after the Anandapur warehouse blaze that has till now claimed 27 lives.
Key replacements were also made in city suburbs. Murli Dhar will replace Mukesh as the Bidhannagar police commissioner. After the Messi fiasco at Salt Lake stadium, Mukesh was among senior officers show-caused by a probe committee although no action was taken then.