Pushed to corner, Bengal govt appoints Piyush Pandey as interim DGP, shifts many top IPS

Despite having been pushed to the wall by the Election Commission on the issue of the transfer of IAS officers and by the UPSC on the issue of the appointment of a new DGP following the superannuation of incumbent Rajeev Kumar, the Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal remains undeterred as it went ahead with a bureaucratic reshuffle, appointing senior IPS officer Piyush Pandey (IPS:1993:WB) as an interim DGP on Friday. The state govt issued orders reassigning duties to top-ranking IPS officers on Friday.

According to the order, Pandey will hold the charge of interim DGP until further orders. It was necessitated by incumbent Rajeev Kumar’s superannuation on January 31.

Top ranking IPS officer Anuj Sharma has been posted as DG, Fire and Emergency Services, while Natarajan Ramesh Babu will now head Home Guards. Similarly, another senior IPS officer, Siddhi Nath Gupta, has been deputed to the post of DG, Correctional Services, and IPS officer Sanjay Singh has been named as Director, Civil Defence.

According to the order, Supratim Sarkar (IPS:1997:WB), currently serving as Additional Director General (ADG) and Inspector General of Police (IGP), South Bengal, has been named the new Kolkata Police Commissioner.

Manoj Kumar Verma (IPS:1998:WB), who was serving as Kolkata Police Commissioner, has been posted as Director, Security, West Bengal.

Similarly, Vineet Kumar Goyal, serving as ADG and IGP, STF, has been shifted to the post of ADG (Law and Order) with an additional charge of ADG, Anti-Corruption Bureau, while Jawed Shamim, who was ADG and IGP (Law and Order), has been given charge of ADG, Special Task Force (STF). He will also hold the additional charge of ADG, Intelligence Branch.

Senior IPS officer Ajey Mukund Ranade has been posted as ADG, Telecommunication, while Vishal Garg has been elevated to the rank of ADG and posted as ADG, Cyber Cell.

Howrah Police Commissioner Praveen Kumar Tripathi, who was appointed as a central poll observer by the Election Commission few days back has also been shifted from his post. He will now be the Barrackpore Police Commissioner, in the rank of IG, while Murli Dhar, Barrackpore CP, has been given charge of Bidhannagar Police Commissioner, also in the rank of IG.

Chandannagar Police Commissioner Amit P Javalgi has been posted as IGP, Burdwan Range.

Mukesh, Bidhannagar CP, has been posted as IGP, Murshidabad and Jangipur Range.

Among the DIGs, Syed Waquar Raza, DIG, Murshidabad Range, has been transferred as DIG, Nadia and Ranaghat while Kankar Prosad Barui, DIG, Telecommunication, has been posted as DIG, Prisons. Shyam Singh, DIG, Burdwan Range, has been posted as DIG, Telecommunication while DIG, Traffic, Alok Rajoria, has been transferred as DIG, Barasat Range.

IPS officer Akash Magharia, currently posted as DIG, Presidency Range, has been posted as Howrah Police Commissioner in the rank of DIG, while Bhaskar Mukherjee, DIG, Barasat Range, will look after Presidency Range as DIG.

David Ivan Lepcha, Commandant, SAP 4th Battalion, in the rank of DIG, has been posted as DIG, Traffic, West Bengal, while Gaurav Lal, Deputy Commissioner, ESD, Kolkata, in the rank of Joint Commissioner, has been posted to the CID in the rank of DIG.

Besides, Koteswara Rao is the lone SP-rank officer who has been shifted in this latest round of reshuffling. Currently posted as Sundarban SP, Rao has been given the charge of Chandannagar Police Commissioner, in the same rank.