Tapan Mitra

Senior police officer Manoj Verma ventured into the Shyambazar Traffic Guard for a surprise check after Metro gave a sneak peek into what goes on under the gaze of the officer-in-charge accused of stopping a sergeant from performing his duty.

Verma, the deputy commissioner of traffic police, reached the post around 9.45am on Friday and spent an hour going through official records, including cases registered by sergeants against lorries and other goods vehicles over the past few months.

A source said he asked for the duty roster and a record of the cases filed against goods vehicles by sergeant Sudip Maity since he joined the traffic guard in April.

Maity had filed a general diary against officer-in-charge Tapan Mitra on Tuesday, accusing him of trying to protect a lorry driver he had caught violating a signal at the Cossipore crossing the previous day.

The police headquarters ordered an inquiry but removed Maity from the post on Wednesday as punishment for speaking out against his boss.

Verma checked Mitra’s attendance records “to know when he arrives and leaves the guard office and asked the office staff to inform him how many times he goes out for inspection”, the source said.

The deputy commissioner declined comment on his visit to Shyambazar. “An inquiry is on,” he told Metro.

Another officer said Verma went through the general diary logbook page by page. He later read the contents of the diary lodged by Sudip against his boss.

Before leaving, he asked for photocopies of the duty roster, Maity’s general diary and the cases registered by him and sergeant B.K. Saha.

The officer said Verma was surprised to learn that some cops had been posted at the guard for over five years. Officers are generally transferred after a maximum of two-and-a-half years.

“He asked Mitra to provide him the names of constables and other staff posted at the guard for over three years and asked for an explanation why they were not transferred,” the official said.

Around 10.45, Verma went to the Cossipore-Chiriamore crossing where Maity was allegedly heckled by around 20 youths having links with the truck owners’ association while Mitra watched.