Kolkata, March 19 The Election Commission of India has put on hold its earlier decision to send five IPS officers from West Bengal to other states as police observers for the upcoming assembly elections here, an official said on Thursday.
The poll panel had on Wednesday issued a notification announcing the transfer of 15 IPS officers, including Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Muralidhar Sharma and Siliguri Police Commissioner Syed Waqar Raza, to serve as observers in elections outside the state.
However, within 24 hours, the Commission revised its decision for five of them. The remaining 10 officers will proceed to other states as scheduled to take up their roles as police observers, officials said.
"Orders regarding the five officers have been put on hold for now. They are not required to move immediately," a senior Election Commission official told
According to the official, apart from Sharma and Raza, the officers whose deputation has been put on hold include Amandeep, Akash Magharia and Praveen Kumar Tripathi.
As per the earlier notification issued by the Commission in New Delhi, Sharma and Raza had been appointed as observers for the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
The list of officers designated as observers also includes Alok Rajoria, Indira Mukhopadhyay, Dhritiman Sarkar, C Sudhakar, Abhijit Bandyopadhyay, Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay, Rashid Munir Khan and Priyabrata Ray, among others.
"The decision is part of routine administrative adjustments to ensure effective deployment of observers," he added.