IPS officer Vivek Sahay appointed as West Bengal DGP

IPS officer Vivek Sahay has been appointed as the next DGP of West Bengal. He will replace Rajeev Kumar, who was today removed by the Election Commission (EC). Sahay, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was the Director General and Commandant General (Home Guards).

In 2021, the EC had suspended Sahay, then acting director of security for Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. India Today had reported that charges were likely to be framed against Sahay for lapses that led to Banerjee's leg injury in Nandigram on March 10, 2021.

The decision to shift Rajeev Kumar was taken as he was removed earlier too from active election management-related duty during the 2016 assembly election in Bengal and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, sources told PTI.  

The EC has asked the state chief secretary to post Rajeev Kumar to a "non-election" related assignment, and, as an interim arrangement, post an officer immediately junior to him as DGP. 

Speaking on the removal of Rajeev Kumar, West Bengal Congress President Adhir Chowdhury said, "He (the DGP) was into the flattery of the party in power (TMC), especially the government so that the people know that he won't work without the orders of the government. We have registered many complaints as he wasn't listening to the people's grievances even after being the DGP. It's a good decision and we are happy with this."

Also, the commission on Monday ordered the removal of the home secretaries of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Also, the secretaries of the general administrative departments of Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh have been removed.

The home secretaries of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand were removed as they were found to be holding dual charges in the offices of the chief minister in the respective states. This may potentially compromise or be seen to be compromising the impartiality and neutrality required during the electoral process, especially in matters relating to law and order and deployment of forces, they noted.