On March 18, ECI had ordered the removal of DGP Rajeev Kumar who was at the centre of many controversies. After Vivek Sahay, the senior-most IPS officer in the state, was made interim DGP, ECI directed the West Bengal Government to make Sanjay Mukherjee as new DGP. Out of three names which were sent by the State Government, ECI chose the 1989 batch IPS officer as the new DGP.
Days after removing ‘controversial’ DGP Rajeev Kumar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday ordered the transfer of district magistrates of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram, Purba Bardhaman, and Birbhum districts in West Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. These four district magistrates are from the West Bengal Civil Service cadre and not Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers. Among those removed are Purba Bardhaman DM Bidhan Chandra Roy, Purba Medinipur DM Tanvir Afzal, Birbhum DM Purnendu Kumar, and Jhargram DM Sunil Agarwala.“Taking forward its commitment for a level playing field in the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the Election Commission of India (ECI) today has issued transfer orders for non-cadre officers who are posted at leadership positions as District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP) in four states namely Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha and West Bengal. Post of DM and SP in the district are encadred for officers from Indian Administrative and Indian Police Service respectively,” it added.
Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in West Bengal will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1 across 42 parliamentary constituencies. The results will be announced on June 4.
(This story has not been edited by News Mania staff and is published from a Media Release)
