Kolkata, March 9 – The West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) questioned the Kolkata Police's justification for offering protocol salutes to the former State Director General of Police (DGP), Rajeev Kumar, on Monday. Kumar had appeared for a meeting with the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) earlier that day as a member of the Trinamool Congress delegation.
Incidentally, former State DGP Kumar was also declared "elected unopposed" to the Rajya Sabha as a Trinamool Congress candidate.
West Bengal Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Suvendu Adhikari, issued a statement on his official social media account later that day, questioning the justification for the police offering salutes to a retired police officer, especially one whose career had been marred by several controversies.
"The 'tainted' Rajeev Kumar, who once evaded justice, strutting into the Election Commission like a VIP, greeted with red-carpet treatment and salutes from the Kolkata Police! Who is he? Saluting a man who dodged justice for years, buried scandals under the rug for his TMC Masters, and is now getting rewarded with a Rajya Sabha ticket?" LoP Adhikari claimed.
He also shared a video of West Bengal police offering salutes to former State DGP Kumar while he appeared for the meeting with the ECI's full bench as a representative of the Trinamool Congress.
He also stated that this development proved the extent to which the disciplined police forces in the state had stooped during the current Trinamool Congress government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"This is the level of corruption in Mamata Banerjee's regime. A career marred by cover-ups and securing a high-ranking position after retirement for 'washing TMC's dirty linen' while in uniform, exposes the quid pro quo arrangement," the LoP added.