Peeyush Pandey, the officer in charge of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s security, will be the new director-general of police (DGP) of Bengal.
Calcutta has a new police commissioner — Supratim Sarkar.
The commissionerates of Bidhannagar, Barrackpore, Howrah and Chandannagar have also been assigned new police chiefs.
The appointments were part of a massive pre-election reshuffle of the police administration, formally announced around 9pm on Friday.
Pandey, a 1993-batch IPS officer, was serving as the state’s director of security. Over his career, he has held several key positions, including deputy commissioner (detective department) of Kolkata Police, superintendent of police of Burdwan, and chief of the state correctional services. He has also served with the elite special protection group (SPG) during a stint on central deputation.
Sarkar, the new Kolkata Police commissioner, is a 1997-batch IPS officer. His previous postings include deputy commissioner, south, Kolkata Police; superintendent of police, North 24-Parganas; joint commissioner (traffic), Kolkata Police; and additional director-general (ADG), south Bengal.
In all, 24 IPS officers have been assigned new responsibilities in this round of transfers.
Murlidhar Sharma, who was commissioner of Barrackpore police, has been posted as the police commissioner of Bidhannagar. Praveen Tripathi, earlier the Howrah Police commissioner, is the new commissioner of Barrackpore police.
Deputy inspector-general (Presidency Range) Akash Magharia has been appointed as the new Howrah Police commissioner. Sundarbans superintendent of police Koteswar Rao has been posted as the police commissioner of Chandannagar, in the rank of superintendent of police.
Several other positions also saw changes. Posts such as additional director-general (ADG), law and order; ADG, special task force (STF); and ADG, Cyber were shuffled.
The city’s new top cop is known to wear multiple hats. Sarkar is also an author, with books on crime and case studies drawn from his experiences at Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters.
During his tenure as joint commissioner (traffic), Sarkar was behind several familiar public-awareness campaigns. One of the most eye-catching initiatives under his watch was the use of The Beatles’ Abbey Road image to promote awareness about zebra crossings.
The incumbent Kolkata Police commissioner, Manoj Verma, has replaced Pandey as the director of security.
Vineet Goyal, a former Kolkata Police commissioner who was serving as ADG, STF, has been posted as ADG, law and order. Jawed Shamim, who held the law and order portfolio, has been moved to ADG, STF.