Kolkata, April 26: The Election Commission has ordered the transfer of three police station chiefs in Kolkata ahead of the second phase of assembly elections scheduled for April 29. This includes the police station responsible for the area where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee‘s official residence is located.
The transfers, involving officers of inspector rank, come just days before voting in 142 assembly constituencies, including those in Kolkata. Among the transferred officials is Utpal Ghosh, in charge of the Kalighat police station, which oversees the Chief Minister’s residence on Harish Chatterjee Street. Ghosh has been replaced by Gautam Das, who previously served as an inspector in the Kolkata Police’s Special Branch.
Additionally, the Election Commission has also transferred Uttam Paik, the additional in-charge of Kalighat police station, along with the heads of Alipur and Ultadanga women’s police stations. Subrata Pandey has been appointed as the new in-charge of Alipur police station, while Chameli Mukherjee has taken over the Ultadanga women’s police station, previously serving as the additional in-charge at Alipur.
The transfers are significant for two reasons: first, the Chief Minister’s official residence falls under the jurisdiction of Kalighat police station, and second, Kalighat is one of the police stations in the high-profile Bhawanipur assembly constituency, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting against opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari.