West Bengal: Piyush Pandey is new acting DGP, Supratim Sarkar appointed as Kolkata’s top cop during major reshuffle

The West Bengal government on Friday announced a major reshuffle in the top echelons of the state police administration, appointing senior IPS officer Piyush Pandey as the new acting Director General of Police (DGP).

The announcement comes on the eve of the retirement of outgoing DGP Rajeev Kumar, whose tenure formally ends on Saturday.

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Pandey, who was serving as Director of Security (DoS) and was in charge of the Chief Minister’s security, has been entrusted with the responsibility of heading the state police force. However, like his predecessor, he has been appointed in an acting capacity, continuing the trend of interim arrangements at the top post. Rajeev Kumar had been discharging duties as acting DGP till his last working day, with his farewell held on 28 January. With Pandey moving to Writers’ Buildings, the post of Director of Security has been handed over to IPS Manoj Verma, who was removed from the position of Kolkata Police Commissioner. Verma will now oversee the Chief Minister’s security apparatus.

Meanwhile, IPS Supratim Sarkar, who was serving as Additional Director General (South Bengal), has been appointed the new Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, making him the city’s new police chief. Pandey is a seasoned officer with vast experience in both state and central assignments.

He was the first Commissioner of Police of the Chandannagar Police Commissionerate and had earlier served on central deputation, including a long stint with the Special Protection Group (SPG). The reshuffle has also brought IPS Vineet Goyal back into a key role. A former Kolkata Police Commissioner, Goyal had been removed from the post following the RG Kar Hospital incident and later sought relief from the Calcutta High Court. He was till now serving as ADG-IG, STF, and has now been appointed ADG (Law and Order). The outgoing ADG (Law and Order), Javed Shamim, has been shifted to the post of ADG, STF. Changes were also made in the fire services department. Ranbir Kumar, who was serving as Director General, Fire Services, has been replaced by Anuj Sharma. The move comes in the aftermath of the recent Anandapur fire tragedy, where delays in supervision drew criticism. Kumar had admitted to lapses in monitoring during his visit to the site nearly 30 hours after the incident.

In other postings, Siddhinath Gupta has been appointed DG, Correctional Homes, while Muralidhar Sharma has taken charge as Commissioner of Police, Bidhannagar. Sharma was earlier posted at Barrackpore, where Praveen Kumar Tripathi has now been assigned.