EC shunts out Rajeev Kumar, Bengal top cop for whom Mamata once staged dharna

In 2012, when the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate was established, Rajeev Kumar became its first commissioner.

Days after releasing the Lok Sabha poll dates, the Election Commission on March 18 removed West Bengal's Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar.

The poll panel sought three names from the state administration for Kumar's replacement by 5 pm on March 18. Kumar is reportedly close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Here are five key points about Bengal’s top cop.

-Kumar, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is a 1989 batch IPS officer. He became the director general of police by replacing Manoj Malaviya in December 2023.

- Kumar’s first police posting was as officer-in-charge of Durgapur police station. He has earlier served as the chief of Kolkata Police and Bidhannagar Police. He also headed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Special Task Force (STF), and served as the principal secretary of the department of information technology and electronics.

- He was removed as commissioner of police in Kolkata ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections. The Opposition leaders had alleged that Kumar was tapping their phones.

-In 2019, the CBI accused Kumar of allegedly suppressing and destroying evidence in the Saradha case while leading a SIT set up by the state government to probe the matter. Repeated summons to Kumar remained reportedly ignored. On the evening of February 3, 2019, 40 CBI officers tried to enter his official residence in Kolkata to question him.

- Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna to protest the CBI knocking on Kumar’s doors in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam. Banerjee ended her dharna after a Supreme Court order directed that no coercive steps including arrest should be taken against the Kolkata police commissioner.

What does Trinamool say?

Trinamool general secretary Kunal Ghosh claimed that BJP was gripped by the fear of losing the Lok Sabha seats in the state. ““The BJP is trying to misuse all institutions, including the Election Commission. They are even meddling with the appointment of the election commissioners by changing the recruitment panel. The step taken today is a glaring example of the BJP’s control over the EC. It doesn’t matter if BJP changes even 100 such officers because the people of Bengal are with Mamata Banerjee,” said Ghosh.

Elections for the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held over seven phases, starting April 19.