West Bengal transfers 23 police officers in major reshuffle

• 25 September notification ordered the transfer of 23 IPS and West Bengal Police Service officers.

• STF chief Sudheer Kumar Neelakantam has been named Additional Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, while Intelligence Branch DIG Bholanath Pandey will take charge of traffic.

• The new postings will take effect when the officers assume charge.

The West Bengal government has transferred 23 IPS and West Bengal Police Service officers in a reshuffle affecting senior posts in Kolkata Police, the Intelligence Branch and police units elsewhere in the state.

The Home and Hill Affairs Department notification, dated 25 September, said the transfers were made “in the interest of public service”.

Sudheer Kumar Neelakantam, Inspector General of Police in the Special Task Force, has been appointed Additional Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, replacing Devendra Prakash Singh. Singh will move to the Intelligence Branch as Inspector General for North Bengal.

Bholanath Pandey, currently a Deputy Inspector General in the Intelligence Branch, has been named Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Kolkata. He replaces Surya Pratap Yadav, who will take up a DIG post in the state Intelligence Branch. Sukhen Hira, now DIG (Security), will become Kolkata Police Joint Commissioner (Security).

The changes extend to other commissionerates. Debarshi Dutta, a DIG at the West Bengal Police Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation, has been appointed Joint Commissioner of Police, Bidhannagar. Quazi Samsuddin Ahamed will become Deputy Commissioner of Police in Bidhannagar’s Detective Department, while Kuntal Banerjee has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Police in Barrackpore.

In Kolkata Police, Soumyadip Bhattacharya, currently commanding officer of the SAP 1st Battalion, has been named Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyber-II. Sparsha Nilangi will move from the Enforcement Branch to the Detective Department as deputy commissioner.

With PTI inputs