Kolkata, April 10 – The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered the transfer of 149 lower-level police officers, including inspectors and sub-inspectors, and their removal from any poll-related duties in West Bengal.
Among the 149 officers transferred and removed from poll-related duties, 81 are inspectors, and the remaining 68 are sub-inspectors.
Sources from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that these inspectors and sub-inspectors have also been assigned new responsibilities.
According to a notification issued by the commission on Thursday, they must take up their new posts by 5 PM on Friday.
It is learnt that the district police superintendents will implement this order.
The ECI had also directed that these police officers must sign a bond stating that they will not interfere in the voting process, either directly or indirectly.
The two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled for April 23 and April 29. In the first phase, there will be polling for 152 Assembly constituencies, and in the second phase, for the remaining 142 constituencies. The results will be announced on May 4.
The inspectors who have been removed from poll-related duties include two from Cooch Behar, four from the Raiganj Police District, four from the Islampur Police District, one from Alipurduar, three from South Dinajpur, two from Siliguri, three from the Diamond Harbour Police District, two from the Baruipur Police District, three from the Barasat Police District, one from the Basirhat Police District, one from the Bangaon Police District, four from Barrackpore, six from Bidhannagar, four from the Krishnanagar Police District, four from the Ranaghat Police District, one from Asansol Durgapur, three from West Midnapore, five from East Midnapore, two from Purulia, two from Birbhum, one from Jalpaiguri, three from Malda, and one from Bankura.
A source from the CEO's office said that the transfers of police officers in West Bengal had been carried out in three phases. The first phase was for officers of the highest rank, such as the Director General, Additional Director Generals, Inspector Generals, and Director Generals.
In the second phase, the transfer of mid-level officers, including Superintendents, Additional Superintendents, Sub-Divisional Police Officers, and Deputy Superintendents of Police, was carried out.
In the final and third stage, the transfers were for the lowest-ranked officers, including inspectors and sub-inspectors.
