NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India has ordered a major reshuffle of senior Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers across three poll-bound states, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
According to officials, at least 27 officers have been transferred and given new postings with immediate effect. The Commission has directed that compliance reports confirming that transferred officers have assumed charge be submitted by 11 am on Wednesday.
West Bengal, which will vote across 294 Assembly constituencies, witnessed the largest reshuffle, with 19 officers transferred. The poll body ordered the posting of six senior IPS officers at the ranks of Additional Director General (ADG), Inspector General of Police (IGP), and Commissioners of Police.
Rajesh Kumar Singh (1997 batch) has been appointed ADG & IGP, South Bengal Region, while K. Jayaraman (1997) takes charge as ADG & IGP, North Bengal Region. Pranav Kumar (2003) has been posted as Commissioner of Police, Asansol-Durgapur, and Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi (2005) as Commissioner of Police, Howrah. Amit Kumar Singh (2009) will serve as Commissioner of Police, Barrackpore, and Sunil Kumar Yadav (2009) as Commissioner of Police, Chandannagar.
In addition, 13 Superintendents of Police have been transferred across the state, along with key postings in Kolkata and other districts.
In Kerala, five administrative and police officers have been reassigned. Narayanan (2011) has been posted as District Police Chief of Kozhikode, while Thomson Jose (2009) takes over as Deputy Inspector General of Police, Thrissur Range. Inbasekhar (2015) has been appointed District Collector-cum-District Election Officer of Alappuzha.
In Tamil Nadu, four IPS officers at the rank of Superintendent of Police have been transferred. D.N. Harikiran Prasad (2016) has been posted as SP, Karur; D.V. Kiran Shruthi (2018) as SP, Erode; Sujith Kumar (2013) as SP, Nagapattinam; and Dr N. Shreenatha (2013) as SP, Virudhunagar. The compliance deadline for Tamil Nadu was set at 11 am on March 17.
The Commission has also directed that officers transferred out of their current postings must not be assigned any election-related duties until the completion of the polls.