KOLKATA: ECI suspended one deputy commissioner (DC) and three other officers, including one officer-in-charge (OC), and an additional OC, of Kolkata Police, following clashes between Trinamool Congress and BJP during the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to south Kolkata’s Bhabanipur.
Bhabanipur is a high-profile assembly constituency, where the Chief Minister and ruling party supremo Mamata Banerjee, and Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition and BJP MLA, are contesting against each other.
The ECI has also initiated disciplinary actions against the four officers, Siddhartha Dutta, DC II (south division), Priyankar Chakraborty, OC, Alipore, Chandi Charan, additional OC, Alipore and Sourabh Chatterjee, sergeant.
The Commission, in its letter written to the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (WBCEO) Manoj Agarwal today, directed the implementation of its order with immediate effect and sought a compliance report by 11 am on April 5.
It was prompted to take the drastic measures against the four officials after receiving recommendations from Agarwal on Thursday, the letter stated.
Ajay Nand, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, on Friday issued show-cause notices to two DCs, Dutta and Manas Roy (Reserve Force), for alleged dereliction of duty during Shah’s visit on Thursday, when he accompanied Adhikari to file his nomination from the Bhabanipur constituency.
Police have also registered three FIRs in connection with Thursday’s disturbances.
Two cases were registered suo motu by the police, while one was lodged based on a complaint from the returning officer concerned in the constituency.
“All three FIRs are against unknown persons. Two have been registered at Alipore police station and one at Kalighat,” sources said.
During Shah’s visit to Kalighat, a large number of people allegedly belonging to the Trinamool Congress gathered on the sidelines, waving black flags and shouting “Go Back”.
A few also allegedly displayed shoes and slippers to the minister as a mark of protest.
At another location, near the Survey Building in Alipore, where the BJP was holding a public meeting with formal permission, a group of Trinamool supporters allegedly barged in without intimation.
A melee ensued, escalating into a clash between supporters of the two parties.
Dutta and Roy were in charge of the two venues.
Dutta was on duty at the Survey Building, where Adhikari and three other BJP candidates from Rashbehari, Ballygunj and Chowringhee seats filed nominations, while Roy was posted at Kalighat when the disturbances were reported.
Sources said the police have begun identifying the men in the mob who violated the rules.
“We are in the process of identifying those involved and are sending summons in connection with the case,” an investigator said.
The cases have been registered under sections related to criminal intimidation, verbal abuse and endangering “Z-plus protectees”.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, expressing his displeasure with the Bhabanipur incident, held a virtual conference with Agarwal, senior officials of the state CEO office, top bureaucrats of the state, and the director general of police (DGP).
Notably, after being chided by Kumar on Thursday, Nand issued a show-cause notice to Dutta and Roy seeking clarifications on the disturbances during Shah’s visit to Bhabanipur