Kolkata, Jan 31 (IANS) A political slugfest has surfaced in West Bengal over the appointment of former additional director general (South Bengal), Supratim Sarkar as the new Commissioner of Kolkata Police, which was officially announced by the West Bengal Police Directorate on Friday.

Top BJP leaders from West Bengal claimed that Sarkar was gifted with the post by the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government for managing the tension at Sandeshkhali, a conglomeration of islands in North 24 Parganas district in 2024, when the entire area was boiling over atrocities on local people, especially women, by now-suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates.

“Sarkar, as the then additional director general (South Bengal), had managed the affairs at Sandeshkhali quite well, according to the convenience of the ruling Trinamool Congress. He had always been an opportunist cop. He was extremely close to the previous Left Front regime, and now he is close to Trinamool Congress leadership,” said the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday.

Former West Bengal BJP president and the current Union Minister, Sukanta Majumdar, recollected how Sarkar, as the then police superintendent of Hooghly district led the police action against the Trinamool Congress activists protesting against the land acquisition at Singur for the Tata Motors’ small car project.

“Then, he was a confidant police officer of the former Chief Minister, Late Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Now, he has proved himself a confidant of Mamata Banerjee,” said Majumdar.

However, the state education minister, Bratya Basu, said that these allegations were baseless since Sarker’s new designation was a part of routine administrative transfers. “BJP can say anything. They are the ones who garlanded those accused of rape at Unnao,” Basu said.

Sarkar replaced the previous Kolkata Police Commissioner, Manoj Verma, who had been transferred as the director (securities). On Friday, the state government also named Peeyush Pandey as the successor of Rajeev Kumar as the Acting Director General of the state police. Kumar retired from his service on Saturday.

–IANS

src/uk