Kolkata, April 4: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken significant action following the tensions that arose near the convoy of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and West Bengal Assembly opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari on April 1. The ECI has ordered the suspension of four Kolkata police officers, including one at the rank of Deputy Commissioner.
The convoy was heading towards the Alipore Survey Bhavan in South Kolkata, where the official was set to file his nomination for the Bhawanipur Assembly constituency.
The suspended officers are: Deputy Commissioner (South) Siddharth Dutta, Officer-in-Charge of Alipore Police Station Priyankar Chakraborty, Additional Officer-in-Charge Chandicharan Banerjee, and Alipore Sergeant Saurabh Chatterjee.
ECI Secretary Sujit Kumar Mishra sent a letter on Saturday to West Bengal Chief Secretary Dushyant Nariyala, requesting the suspension of these four police officers and the initiation of departmental disciplinary action against them.
The letter emphasized that the commission’s directives should be implemented immediately, with a compliance report due by 11:00 AM on April 5, 2026. Additionally, the commission requested a prompt proposal to fill the vacant positions.
On Friday, Kolkata police issued show-cause notices to both Siddharth Dutta and Deputy Commissioner (Reserved Forces) Manas Roy in connection with this incident.
Earlier this week, newly appointed Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand faced criticism from Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar during a virtual meeting with top West Bengal officials and police officers regarding this matter.
The CEC questioned why the police had not taken proactive measures to prevent the tensions.
Based on three separate complaints registered at two police stations in South Kolkata, the police have filed two separate First Information Reports (FIRs) regarding the incident.
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