Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence, once ringed by multiple layers of security, stood without a single policeman in sight on Thursday after she refused to accept a new set of personal security officers deployed on Wednesday night.

The former chief minister, a Z-plus protectee, is entitled to an elaborate security cover that usually includes around two dozen personnel.

Neither the police nor the Trinamool clarified on Thursday whether the entire security detail had been replaced or only the officers who had been assigned to her for nearly two decades.

Police sources said that although Mamata asked the combat personnel stationed at her residence to leave the compound on Wednesday night, the police posted personnel in adjoining lanes and bylanes to ensure the perimeter was not left entirely unattended.

A group of young supporters assembled outside her residence on Wednesday night after she refused to accept the new PSOs, saying: “We will guard her home.”

On Thursday, a group of men and women were seen sitting inside the security enclosure at her residence. They said they were not police personnel but Trinamool workers who had gathered “to protect our leader”.

Sources in the Trinamool said “nothing is the same” after her long-serving PSOs were suddenly removed.

Kusum Kumar Dwivedi and Swarup Goswami have been part of Mamata’s inner security circle for at least 17 years, dating back to her tenure as railway minister during the UPA-II government in 2009.

Dwivedi, who rose through the ranks of Kolkata Police from sergeant to inspector, has served as her primary shadow guard and PSO.

Dwivedi is also associated with departmental welfare and police sports bodies, having held positions in the Calcutta Police Sergeants’ Institute and Police Athletic Club, and has represented the force at Cricket Association of Bengal events.

Goswami, who began his career as a constable, formed a key pillar of her immediate personal security detail. His father, Arun Kumar Goswami, was a long-time associate of Mamata during her Congress years and served as a three-time Congress MLA from Sreerampur in the 1980s and 1990s.

Trinamool sources said Dwivedi and Goswami were among her most trusted aides. “They were her shadow, and she trusted them more than many in her party or family,” said a source.

“Goswami would not only carry her files but also ensure she ate on time, stayed hydrated and rested amid her busy schedule. He often reminded her of routine thingsshe would forget. She usually used his phone to speakwith senior people in the administration,” the source added.

People at senior levels in the party recalled how he ensured the well-being of the two officers. “It was likean elder sister-brother relationship.

Removing them would be a personal blow, a calculated move by Suvendu, intended to hurt her,” said a party insider. “Goswami also accompanied her on helicopter and car journeys and was privy to crucial conversations.”

Trinamool legislators Kunal Ghosh and Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, amongothers, met chief ministerSuvendu Adhikari at the Assembly on Thursday to discuss the change in security personnel.

Suvendu is said to have told them that there was no compromise on her security, but retaining only preferred personnel would not bepossible.

“Even the security personnel for the Prime Minister and the Union home minister are not permanent. My PSOs are also not permanent. You cannot have only people of your choice in any government system,” he is said to have told them.