Mr. Mukherjee‘s appointment by the ECI comes a day after the West Bengal government appointed Vivek Sahay as the new DGP to replace Rajeev Kumar who was transferred.
An hour after removing West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar on Monday ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) appointed IPS officer A day after appointing IPS officer Vivek Sahay as the next Director General of Police for West Bengal, the Election Commission of India on Tuesday appointed Sanjay Mukherjee as the new DGP of the state.
Sahay’s appointment by EC was based on his seniority, however, since he is scheduled to superannuate in the final week of May before the Lok Sabha elections conclude, the poll panel named Mukherjee as the DGP, a senior official said.
He is a 1989-batch IPS officer and was the second person on the list of the three officers recommended by the West Bengal government for the post of DGP to the EC.
Apart from Rajeev Kumar, the ECI also ordered the removal of home secretaries of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, as well as the removal of Brihanmumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, along with additional commissioners and deputy commissioners. Additionally, secretaries of the general administrative departments in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh are also among those who have been removed.
The ECI’s actions are being considered as a part of its efforts to maintain a level playing field and ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
Who was Rajeev Kumar, former West Bengal DGP?
Rajeev Kumar, a 1989 batch IPS officer, is an alumnus of IIT Roorkee who held prominent positions such as Commissioner of Kolkata Police, Joint Commissioner (Special Task Force), and Director General (CID), among others.
In February 2019, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on dharna when a team of Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) knocked at Mr. Kumar’s residence to question him in connection with the chit fund scam. Mr. Kumar had served as the Secretary of the Information & Technology department.
Kumar has been at the centre of many controversies, with several Opposition leaders in West Bengal pointing to his alleged links with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls, Opposition leaders alleged that Kumar, the Kolkata Police commissioner at the time, was tapping their phones and acting at the TMC’s behest. Kumar was removed from the post at the EC’s direction. However, as soon as the polls were over, he was brought back as police commissioner.
1) He has served as the chief of Kolkata Police and Bidhannagar Police, before being appointed as West Bengal DGP. He also headed the Criminal Investigation Department, and Special Task Force, and served as the principal secretary of the Department of Information Technology and Electronics.
2) In 2019, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) accused Kumar of allegedly suppressing and destroying evidence in the investigation of the Saradha scam while leading a special investigation team set up by the state government to probe the matter.
3) After the CBI conducted searches on his house in the Saradha scam case, Mamata Banerjee sat on a two-day dharna in 2019. She called off the demonstration after the Supreme Court granted him protection from arrest by the CBI.
4 )He was appointed as the DGP in December 2023 after the retirement of Manoj Malaviya.
5)Known to be close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Kumar is a 1989-batch IPS officer.