The West Bengal BJP has written to the Chief Election Officer (CEO), West Bengal, requesting the transfer of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shantanu Sinha Biswas, and Bijitaswa Routh (IC) and Rahul Amin Ali Shah (SI) of Kolkata Police out of the state till the conclusion of the assembly elections.
In a letter dated April 4, 2026, the state BJP stated, “It has come to the notice that Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Shantanu Sinha Biswas, and Mr Bijitaswa Routh (IC) and Mr Rahul Amin Ali Shah (SI) of Kolkata Police were making an appeal for ensuring the victory of their “guardian” Chief Minister Smt Mamata Banerjee and the ruling TMC party at the State Coference of the West Bengal Police Welfare Committee.
BJP writes a letter to the CEO of West Bengal regarding the removal of "compromised and partisan police officers", namely Shantanu Sinha Biswas (DCP Kolkata Police), Bijitaswa Routh – IC. Rahul Amin Ali Shah (SI)
— ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2026
"It has come to notice that Deputy Commissioner of Police Shantanu… pic.twitter.com/mW63OLKkmr
The letter referred to earlier complaints made by the party against DCP Shantanu Sinha Biswas before the full bench of the Election Commission of India on March 9, 2026, and on March 22, 2026. It further mentioned that during the 2021 state assembly elections, DCP Shantanu Sinha Biswas was transferred to Cooch Behar after voting had concluded in that area. This was done to ensure that he was not physically present in the area where voting was still going on.
In the letter dated March 22, 2026, the BJP had highlighted that Biswas was promoted from Inspector to Assistant Commissioner in September 2021, but he continued to function as the Officer-in-Charge of the Kalighat Police Station. Later in March 2025, he was promoted to the rank of DCP and was posted to the Special Branch, deputed to the Special Security Unit (SSU), but he continued to operate from the Kalighat Police Station.
According to the letter, Biswas was to retire in August 2025; however, before his retirement, his service was extended for another 2 years by the state government. The letter further stated that in April 2021, the Election Commission of India transferred him to the Directorate of Economic Offences, but he continued to work from the Kalighat Police Station.
In its submissions before the full bench of the ECI, the BJP submitted 18 demands relating to the pre-poll preparation, the polling day and the counting. Among the submissions relating to the pre-poll phase, the BJP demanded that the West Bengal Police Welfare Organisation be banned and all its offices/operational areas be sealed. The party alleged that the organisation is “a frontal outfit of the TMC which issues illegal orders and coerces the police personnel to surrender their ballot papers to these officers”.
