On Saturday, 25th July, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the suspension of five police officers while addressing the State Assembly on the final day of the six-day extended Budget session. The officers had faced controversies during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government and were accused of acting in a partisan manner.
The list of suspended officers includes one Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and four police officials who served in different parts of the state.
IPS officer among those suspended
The suspended IPS officer is Koteshwar Rao, who earlier served as the Superintendent of the Diamond Harbour Police District in South 24 Parganas. Rao was considered close to Trinamool Congress General Secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee.
The other officers suspended are Moazzem Hussain, former inspector-in-charge of Kaliaganj police station in North Dinajpur; Subarna Dutta Chowdhury, former officer-in-charge of Bartala police station under Kolkata Police; Sadhan Pandey, former sub-inspector at Bartala police station; and Amalendu Biswas, former inspector-in-charge of Krishnanagar police station in Nadia district.
CM refers to previous government’s tenure
Without naming individuals directly, the Chief Minister said that the police machinery was misused at several places during the previous government, which was in office from 2021 to 2026. He also said that the feelings of followers of Sanatan Dharma were hurt during that period.
Adhikari added that his government would not allow such practices and made it clear that corruption in governance would not be accepted under his administration. He also repeated the same message in a statement shared on social media.
Earlier action against three IPS officers
This is not the first action taken by the new government. Soon after taking charge in May following the West Bengal Assembly elections, Chief Minister Adhikari suspended three IPS officers over their handling of the August 2024 rape and murder case of a woman doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
Those officers were then Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal, then Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Division) Abhishek Gupta, and then Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Division) Indira Mukherjee. A departmental inquiry was also ordered against them. Earlier this month, the state government extended their suspension by another 120 days.
