Kolkata, Feb 14 (IANS) Ahead of the Assembly polls, the West Bengal government has reshuffled several senior positions in the police administration. A detailed notification in this regard was issued by the state administration on Saturday.

According to the notification, Rajeev Mishra has been appointed as the new Additional Director General (ADG) and Inspector General of Police (IGP) of South Bengal. L.M. Meena has been appointed as the new ADG and IGP of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). IPS officer Mukesh has been appointed as the new Inspector General of Police (IGP), Intelligence Branch (IB).

Syed Waquar Raja has been appointed as the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Murshidabad Range. Amarnath K has been appointed as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Jalpaiguri district. He was earlier serving as the Superintendent of Police of Krishnanagar, where Y. Raghuvanshi has now been posted in his place.

It is worth noting that uncertainty continues over the timing of the Assembly poll notification, and there has been considerable discussion regarding the number of phases in which polling will be conducted.

Earlier, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had directed the state government to transfer officials who have been posted in the same position for more than three years. However, according to Commission sources, this rule does not apply to officials posted at headquarters.

The Commission’s directive stated that district administration officials, including Block Development Officers (BDOs), Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs), District Magistrates (DMs), and Additional District Magistrates (ADMs), must be transferred as per the guidelines.

The directive also included the transfer of police officials such as Superintendents of Police (SPs), Additional Superintendents of Police, Inspector Generals of Police (IGs), and Deputy Inspector Generals of Police (DIGs). An order in this regard was issued to the Chief Secretary, directing that all such transfers be completed by February 15.

The guidelines further stated that officers who had served as District Magistrates, Returning Officers, or Police Inspectors during the previous Assembly elections should not be posted in the same districts where they were previously in charge.

Following these instructions, several key positions in the police administration were reshuffled on Saturday evening. However, state government sources maintained that the transfers were part of a routine administrative exercise.

–IANS

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