Bengal police chief Virendra replaced by Election Commission ahead of polls
He was replaced by Niraj Nayan Pandey.
Ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, the Election Commission of India on Tuesday replaced the Bengal police chief Virendra. He was replaced by Niraj Nayan Pandey, an IPS officer of the 1987 batch. Elections in Bengal are scheduled in eight phases — starting March 27 and continuing till April 29. Results will be out on May 2.
The ECI has asked the West Bengal government to not put Virendra — an officer of 1985 batch who headed the West Bengal Police — on any duty relating to the elections.
Sources said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had alleged before the ECI that Virendra was biased towards the ruling party. According to the party spokesperson, Samik Bhattacharya, many BJP workers had been murdered over the past few months, but the police investigations across the state were not satisfactory. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy said that the ECI “is taking decisions based on what the BJP wants”. Roy said that Virendra is a good officer.
Earlier, the Election Commission had replaced the state’s additional director general (law and order) Jawed Shamim.
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