Shamim is north police chief

TT, Dec. 31: The state home department today promoted Jawed Shamim from the post of special inspector-general and deputy inspector-general (Jalpaiguri range) to inspector-general of north Bengal, putting him in charge of the entire region.

The change has happened in the wake of suspected attacks by KLO militants on two consecutive days in Jalpaiguri and Malda. A blast in Jalpaiguri killed six persons on December 26. The next day, unidentified men fired on a private bus in Malda’s Bamungola, a KLO hotbed, injuring four persons.

According to sources in Calcutta, Shamim will replace Sashi Kant Pujari, who has been posted as inspector-general (intelligence branch).

Chelling Simick Lepcha, who was the deputy inspector-general (Malda range), will replace Shamim. Satyajit Banerjee, deputy inspector-general (training), will be the new deputy inspector-general (Malda range).

Sources in north Bengal said Shamim, after he handled the hill agitation earlier this year, had been concentrating on tackling the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO).

“He is believed to have substantial information on the outfit. Now that he has been elevated to the post of IG (north Bengal), when the activities of the KLO have posed a fresh challenge, it is expected he can lead the force in north Bengal and can effectively curb the menace,” a source said.