Bengal polls: EC puts transfer of two IPS officers on hold, others to be sent as observers
Kolkata: The Election Commission of India has partially rolled back its decision to shift a group of IPS officers out of West Bengal, deciding to retain two officers in the state for the time being, ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
According to officials in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, two IPS officers, namely Murali Dhar and Syed Waquar Raza, will not be deputed to other states as observers for now and will continue to serve in West Bengal until further directions are issued.
The remaining 13 officers, however, will be sent on deputation to poll-bound states, including Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where they are expected to serve as observers during the assembly polls.
The development comes a day after the poll panel, in a late-night order on Wednesday, cancelled the alternative postings of 15 IPS officers in West Bengal. These officers had earlier been reassigned by the state government after being removed by the Election Commission from their posts and barred from election-related duties in view of the upcoming Assembly elections.
In its earlier directive, the Commission had decided to shift all 15 officers out of West Bengal by appointing them as police observers in other states going to the polls.
The list included Akash Magharia, Alok Rajoria, Amandeep, Abhijit Banerjee, Bhaskar Mukherjee, C. Sudhakar, Dhritimaan Sarkar, Indira Mukherjee, Murali Dhar, Mukesh, Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Priyabrata Roy, Sandeep Karra, Rashid Munir Khan, and Syed Waquar Raza.
Among them, Murali Dhar was serving as Police Commissioner of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, while Syed Waquar Raza was Police Commissioner of Siliguri Metropolitan Police.
However, in a revised decision on Thursday, the Commission allowed these two officers to remain in the state, without immediately assigning them observer roles elsewhere.
The move follows sustained demands from Opposition parties in West Bengal, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had argued that officers barred from election duties should be moved out of the state entirely to prevent any potential influence on the electoral process.