The Election Commission has posted Soma Das Mitra, a 2006-batch IPS officer of the Bengal cadre, as the crime chief of Calcutta, and Sudeep Sarkar, a 2009-batch IPS officer from the same cadre, as joint commissioner of police (headquarters), Kolkata Police.
The young officers will take charge of the two heavy-duty positions at Lalbazar, about a fortnight before polling begins in Bengal. Calcutta goes to the polls on April 29.
The transfers were part of a broader reshuffle effected by the poll panel on Saturday.
Five IPS officers were posted as deputy commissioners of police in charge of five divisions of Kolkata Police, while over a dozen officers were appointed as new officers-in-charge (OCs) of police stations in the latest round of changes.
Earlier, the EC had ordered the transfer of Calcutta’s police commissioner and Bengal’s director-general of police.
“The posts of joint commissioners for crime and headquarters are among the most critical posts in Kolkata Police. The first is responsible for controlling crime, and headquarters oversees election-related arrangements on behalf of the police commissioner,” a senior officer said.
“All deputy commissioners from the 10 divisions seek orders and guidance from these two key officers,” the officer added. “It will be challenging to understand the functioning of the Kolkata Police force and the overall arrangement within such a short period.”
As many as 29 new officers have been posted as circle inspectors and OCs of police stations across Bengal.
The EC directive, copies of which were sent to the state’s chief secretary, the DGP and the Kolkata Police Commissioner, requires a compliance report to be submitted by “11:00am on 12.04.2026”.
According to the order, V.S.R. Ananthnag from the Enforcement Branch has been posted as deputy commissioner of police of the south division of Kolkata Police, while Pradeep Kumar Yadav from the Intelligence Branch in north Bengal has been appointed deputy commissioner of the north division.
Debasmita Das has been made joint commissioner of police (intelligence), Kolkata Police. She was earlier deputy inspector general of police, Special Task Force (STF), Bengal Police.
Saikat Ghosh has been transferred from the Bhangar division to the south east division as deputy commissioner.
Manish Joshi from the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate’s detective department has been posted as deputy commissioner of the Bhangar division. Prashant Chowdhury from the Counter Insurgency Force (CIF) will take charge as deputy commissioner of Kolkata Police’s east division.
Among police station-level postings, Sourav Bhattacharjee from the detective department has been appointed OC of Kasba police station, while Tapan Nath from the Reserve Force has been made OC of Alipore police station.
Chameli Mukherjee of Ultadanga women’s police station has been posted as assistant officer-in-charge of Alipore police station.
The EC had earlier transferred Kasba OC Biswajit Debnath for allegedly failing to include the name of Biswajit Poddar, also known as Sona Pappu, in the list of active offenders under the jurisdiction.
Last week, the poll panel suspended the Alipore OC and additional OC following alleged security lapses and law and order trouble during BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s nomination filing roadshow in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah.
A senior officer said the Saturday order brought in fresh faces in key posts of at least 16 police stations across Calcutta.