Transfers come before model code of conduct is enforced in poll-bound State
In a major reshuffle of the top brass of the police, the West Bengal government on Saturday transferred 24 senior IPS officers, including the Kolkata Police Commissioner.
Soumen Mitra will be the new Kolkata Commissioner, while Anuj Sharma, who was the Commissioner since mid-2019, has been appointed as the Additional Director General, Criminal Investigation Department.
The government has transferred the Commissioners of Bidhhannagar, Barrackpore and the Howrah city police. While Ajay Kumar Nand has been appointed as the Barrackpore Commissioner, C. Sudhakar becomes the chief of the Howrah city police. Supratim Sarkar is the new Commissioner of Bidhhannagar city police.
Jawed Shamim has been appointed as the Additional Director General (Law and Order).
These transfers that come before the model code of conduct is enforced in the State are a well anticipated move by the government, feel political observers.
“It is a careful well-thought move to save the party from embarrassment if these transfers are made by the Election Commission of India,” Biswanath Chakraborty, professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University, said. He pointed out that Soumen Mitra was made the Commissioner of Police by the poll panel in 2016 after the code of conduct was implemented. However, he was removed from the post soon after the Trinamool Congress government came to power.
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