The Election Commission (EC) of India on Monday transferred West Bengal Director-General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar. Vivek Sahay was appointed new DGP of the State police by Monday evening.
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The reshuffle in the State’s top police establishment comes 48 hours after the notification for general elections. The 42 Lok Sabha seats in the State will go polls in seven phases. Mr. Kumar was appointed the State’s DGP three months ago.
The transfer, according to the commission, is part of its “efforts to maintain a level-playing field and ensure the integrity of the electoral process”. Vivek Sahay, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was the Director General and Commandant General (Home Guards) before his new assignment. The Election Commission notification said that Mr. Kumar shall be shifted to a non-elected post with immediate effect. West Bengal has a history of political violence in the elections and in the panchayat polls held in 2023, about 50 persons lost their lives.
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Mr. Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer, has not been a stranger to controversies. Just before the 2016 Assembly in West Bengal, Mr. Kumar who was the Commissioner of Kolkata Police, was removed by the EC. He was reinstated by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee soon after the Trinamool Congress returned to power.
In February 2019, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on dharna when a team of Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) knocked at Mr. Kumar’s residence to question him in connection with the chit fund scam. Mr. Kumar had served as the Secretary of the Information & Technology department.
The West Bengal BJP leadership welcomed Mr. Kumar’s transfer. “We have no issues with Rajeev Kumar as a person, but as a DGP the Trinamool Congress government was using it to suit its political ends,” State BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said.