EC hems in Mamata's special cop

Bharati Ghosh

TT, Calcutta, May 3: The Election Commission of India today asked the Bengal government to ensure that IPS officer Bharati Ghosh does not leave her station of duty till the end of polling on May 5.

The order, triggered by information yet to be verified, capped an unexpected turn of events, and the lengths to which the commission went suggested it did not want to take any chances in Bengal.

Ghosh, who has been under the scanner of the poll panel following charges of bias, is now posted in Calcutta as a special superintendent of the CID. The last phase of polling in Bengal will be held on Thursday in 25 constituencies in East Midnapore and Cooch Behar.

The commission had shifted Ghosh, known to be close to the chief minister, from the post of officer on special duty of Left-wing extremism operations, a berth created specially for her by the state government. The creation of the post before the election season was seen as a move to pre-empt a transfer by the poll panel that nevertheless ordered her removal.

Sources at Nabanna, the state secretariat, said tonight that a senior official of the Election Commission called Bengal chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee late this evening wanting to know if Ghosh had left the city.

Ghosh is posted in Alipore's Bhavani Bhavan, the state police headquarters. But sources said someone had informed the poll panel that Ghosh was seen in Cooch Behar ahead of the May 5 polls and she was likely to stay in East Midnapore close to polling day.

It is not clear whether there was any substance in the information.

"The chief secretary told them verbally that she was very much in Calcutta but the commission wanted it in writing," said a source.

According to him, chief secretary Banerjee then forwarded a written declaration from director-general (crime) Surajit Kar Purkayastha, who is now Ghosh's boss, that she had not left Calcutta in days.

"We thought it was over and done with. But no. After that, Nirvachan Sadan sent an order to the chief secretary prohibiting Ghosh from leaving Calcutta till the end of polling on Thursday. That order was conveyed to Ghosh by the chief secretary," said the source.

Neither Ghosh nor Kar Purkayastha or chief secretary Banerjee responded to calls from this newspaper tonight. But a senior official in the state home department and an official in the commission confirmed the account.

The commission's directive came two days after chief minister Mamata Banerjee attacked Soumen Mitra, the officer the commission had handpicked to replace Calcutta police commissioner Rajeev Kumar. The chief minister had also claimed "excesses" by central forces.

Ghosh was among the first of the 66 officials in the civil and police administration that the commission removed this poll season.

In 2014, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Ghosh was removed as West Midnapore police chief, after which she was reinstated by Mamata and awarded the chief minister's commendable service medal on Independence Day that year.

Some officials said today's order suggested a fear did exist that Ghosh could play a role in the last phase of polls. "This is a very significant move and it rules out any possibility of her leaving town till 6pm on Thursday.... Such a decision against a serving IPS officer has not been taken in recent memory," said a state government official.

"More than in Cooch Behar, the commission is apprehensive of her influence in East Midnapore. Ghosh has worked extensively in the neighbourhood and is very well connected in the belt. But from Calcutta, there is little she can do," said a source.

Commission insiders said Nirvachan Sadan had been keeping an eye on Ghosh since the Lok Sabha polls.