The scissor barricades on Harish Chatterjee Street that lead to the residence of outgoing chief minister Mamata Banerjee were removed on Tuesday morning, a day after the Trinamool Congress was routed in the Assembly elections.

Sources said hand-held guardrails will replace the scissors barricades.

Scissor barricades are operated through switches and are difficult to break through. Manual guardrails can be easily removed. Sources said this was a symbolic scale-down of the security around Mamata after her defeat on Monday.

Scissor barricades are expandable and are used by the police in high-security areas and during sensitive law-and-order programmes where there is apprehension of violence or law violations.

Sources said it was natural for security around Mamata’s neighbourhood to be scaled down, as she is no longer the state’s chief minister. “However, according to protocol, she will continue to get a security cover as a former CM,” said an officer.

Kolkata Police issued an internal memo on Tuesday to formally withdraw security arrangements from outside 9, Camac Street — the office of All India Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee — 121, Kalighat Road, the TMC headquarters, and 188A, Harish Mukherjee Road — the residence of Banerjee, from 6.30am on Wednesday.

Sources said 16 notifications, which were issued between 2016 and 2026 that had details of the police arrangements for these three addresses, and also the line of route outside the Camac Street office, were withdrawn through a fresh notification dated
May 5.