Calcutta, May 25: An IAS officer appointed by the Election Commission to oversee polling in south Calcutta was today put on compulsory waiting by the Mamata Banerjee government, the "rare" move being attributed by some Nabanna sources to Trinamul's defeat in Jadavpur.

Smita Pandey, who was the district election officer for the four Assembly seats in south Calcutta, was not reinstated as the Integrated Child Development Scheme director.

Along with her, four IPS officers (deputy commissioners) - Santosh Pandey of the south suburban division of Calcutta police, Dhrubajyoti De of the eastern suburban division, Sumanjit Ray of the southeast division and South Dinajpur SP Rashid Munir Khan - were put on compulsory waiting.

"The move to put IAS and IPS officers on compulsory waiting without citing any specific charge has raised eyebrows in Nabanna," an official said.

Some officials told this newspaper that the decision was taken following an "internal assessment" by Trinamul that also looked into the defeat in Jadavpur.

As the deputy commissioner of the south suburban division, policing in Jadavpur was under Santosh Pandey's watch. Calcutta police had been hailed for the largely trouble-free elections in the city.

During the Left regime, officers were usually sent on compulsory waiting for a brief period after returning from central deputation. It has allegedly become a mode of punishment in the Trinamul dispensation, a forced hibernation stretching up to several months that is often inflicted on officers who refuse to toe the government line.

The government today reinstated most of the officers removed by the Election Commission on allegations of bias. They included Bharati Ghosh, who was sent back to her previous posting as the West Midnapore police chief.

Other IPS officers reinstated as SPs were Prasun Banerjee (Malda), Arnab Ghosh (South Dinajpur) and Tanmay Ray Chaudhuri (North 24-Parganas).

P.B. Salim was brought back as the DM of South 24-Parganas.

Sanjay Bansal, who had been removed as the Hooghly DM, "would get a better posting in Calcutta", an official said.