May 1: Mamata Banerjee today launched a thinly veiled attack on Calcutta police commissioner Soumen Mitra who has been widely hailed for conducting a trouble-free election in the city yesterday.

" Ponero dineyr jonyo keu daitwo peye shey jodi bhabey amay aamar jiboner swapna, aamake swarna mukut poriye debe keu, sheta shobcheye bhul (If someone is given a responsibility for just 15 days and starts thinking their life's dream of wearing a gold crown will be fulfilled, that is the biggest mistake)," Mamata told an election rally at Chandipur in East Midnapore, around 110km from Calcutta.

The chief minister did not refer to Mitra by name. But she left little to the imagination as Mitra had been appointed the police chief by the poll panel a little over a fortnight ago and the poll process is on for another 22 days. Mitra took over after the commission ordered the transfer of Rajeev Kumar, against whom the Opposition had levelled charges of bias.

Rarely has a chief minister mounted such an attack on an individual law-enforcement officer who has been appointed by the Election Commission of India, under which the state administration has been functioning for the duration of the polls.

The poll process is still on. Altogether 25 seats, including 16 from East Midnapore, are yet to go to the polls. They will do so on Thursday.

Contacted this evening, Mitra declined comment.

In her 35-minute speech, the chief minister claimed that "atrocities were carried out in the name of conducting elections". During yesterday's polls, Calcutta police and the central forces were proactive through the day.

"I had elections yesterday. But I saw to my utter surprise that the police had locked up an important club in my locality. This club was founded before Independence," Mamata said.

"Local police -ke niye Dillir kayekta dalal police eshe tala diye gelo (Some policemen from Delhi came with local police in tow and locked up the club)," she added.

On Friday, the police had shut down several clubs in south Calcutta after crude bombs were found on the premises, or in the vicinity, of two of them, including one in Bhowanipore.

Mamata said: "Central forces, along with some weak local police, were used to terrorise people. It was as if curfew had been clamped like they do during riots. Why were prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC imposed during the polls?"

She added: "But keep in mind that those who are doing all this will have to suffer in the coming days."

"I have information that the BJP, with the help of the central forces, looted votes in some booths in Nagrakata, Darjeeling, Madarihat, Malda and Baishabnagar," she said.

At another rally at Panskura, about 60km from Chandipur, the chief minister tore into the BJP for bringing "Delhi police" - a reference to the central forces - to "terrorise voters".

"I have never seen such bias on the part of BSF, CRPF and RPF personnel," she said.The Opposition said the chief minister was suffering from "fear psychosis", apprehending defeat in the elections.

"Today's statements betray that she has already conceded defeat days before the election results are out," said CPM

politburo member Mohammad Salim. "It was unbecoming of a chief minister to criticise her own force for successfully conducting yesterday's polls," he added.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said: "The reason for her anger is that central forces, along with the city police, had foiled Trinamul activists' attempt to loot votes. So, it is now established that her party had rigged polls in several other previous civic and rural polls."

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said he would talk to lawyers to explore the possibility of legal action against the chief minister, besides taking the matter up with the poll panel.