West Bengal Election 2026: EC sends IPS officers to Kerala, Tamil Nadu; Removes top cops

Kolkata: Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered a sweeping overhaul of the state police and administrative machinery, removing several senior officers and deploying others as election observers in different states.

Several senior IPS officers from West Bengal have been deputed as observers to states, including Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Among those sent out before receiving new postings are Alok Rajoria, removed from the post of DIG, Burdwan Range, and Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay, who was serving as DIG, Presidency Range.

The list of officers being sent out includes DIG (IB) Akash Magharia, SS IB officers Amandeep and Abhijit Bandyopadhyay, IG IB (North Bengal) C Sudhakar, SS IB Dhritiman Sarkar, SS CID Indira Mukhopadhyay, Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Muralidhar, IGP IB Mukesh, IGP STF Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Kolkata DC Traffic Priyabrata Roy, SP STF Sandeep Karra, DIG Headquarters Rashid Munir Khan, and Siliguri Police Commissioner Syed Waqar Raza.

In a parallel move, the ECI has also ordered the removal of five DIG-rank officers across the state and directed that newly appointed officers take charge by 11 am the following day.

Ajit Singh Yadav has been appointed as the new DIG of Murshidabad, while Anjali Singh will take over Jalpaiguri. Amit Kumar Bharat Rathore has been posted as DIG of Raiganj Range, Kankar Prasad Barui as DIG of Presidency Range, and Srihari Pandey as DIG of Burdwan Range.

The reshuffle follows a series of unprecedented administrative actions since the announcement of the election schedule.

On the very night the polls were declared, the ECI removed Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena. Dushmanta Narial has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary, while Sanghamitra Ghosh has taken over as Home Secretary.

Jagdish Prasad Meena has been sent out of the state and appointed as General Observer for the Tiruchirappalli West Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu.

On Monday, three more top officials were removed, including acting Director General of Police (DGP) Piyush Pandey, who was replaced by Siddhinath Gupta. ADG (Law and Order) Vineet Goyal was moved and replaced by Ajey Mukund Ranade. Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar was also removed, with Ajay Kumar Nanda appointed in his place.

Within 24 hours, on Tuesday, the ECI ordered the transfer of 19 more officers, including two ADG-rank officials. ADG North Bengal Sukesh Kumar Jain was replaced by K Jayaraman, while Rajiv Mishra was replaced by Rajesh Kumar Singh as ADG South Bengal.

In Kolkata, DC (Central) Indira Mukhopadhyay was removed and replaced by Shrikant Jagannathrao Yelwad. Additionally, police commissioners of four commissionerates and 12 district Superintendents of Police were also removed as part of the large-scale reshuffle aimed at ensuring free and fair elections.