After top bureaucrats, EC now replaces Bengal’s acting DGP, Kolkata Police chief

In a sweeping administrative reshuffle ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday ordered the replacement of several top police officials in West Bengal, including acting director general of police Peeyush Pandey and Supratim Sarkar, the commissioner of Kolkata Police.

According to the commission’s directive, Siddh Nath Gupta, a 1992-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, has been appointed as the new director general of police, replacing Pandey, who had been serving as the acting DGP. In another significant move, Ajay Kumar Nand, a 1996-batch IPS officer, has been named the new commissioner of Kolkata Police, taking charge from Sarkar. Notably, both Pandey and Sarkar had been appointed to their respective posts only on 30 January this year.

The Election Commission also ordered the removal of Vineet Kumar Goyal, who was serving as Director General of Law and Order. In his place, Ajay Mukud Ranade, a 1995-batch IPS officer, has been appointed as Additional Director General (Law and Order).

Goyal, a former Kolkata Police commissioner, had earlier found himself at the centre of controversy following the horrific rape and murder of a junior doctor inside the premises of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024 — a case that had triggered nationwide outrage and intense scrutiny of the state’s law-and-order machinery.

In the same order, the commission appointed Natarajan Ramesh Babu, a 1991-batch IPS officer, as Director General of Correctional Services.

The latest changes come close on the heels of another major administrative reshuffle ordered by the poll body on Sunday night, when it removed the state’s chief secretary Nandini Chakraborty and home secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena from their positions, directing that they should not be assigned any election-related responsibilities.

Following those directives, Dushyant Nariala was appointed as the new Chief Secretary, while Sanghamitra Ghosh took charge as principal secretary for the Home and Hill Affairs Department.

Announcing the poll schedule at a press conference on Sunday, chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar assured that the elections in West Bengal would be conducted in a peaceful and violence-free manner. The extensive reshuffle in the state’s administrative and police leadership is widely seen as part of the commission’s effort to ensure neutrality and strengthen the law-and-order framework during the election period.

The assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled to be held in two phases — on 23 April and 29 April — while the counting of votes will take place on 4 May.

With IANS inputs