Bengal: Govt denies withdrawing Mamata Banerjee’s security arrangements

The Kolkata Police has denied withdrawing security arrangements of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

This comes after two Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha members as well as one Lok Sabha member on Wednesday accused the Suvendu Adhikari-led government of deliberately withdrawing the security arrangement to which Mamata Banerjee is entitled, IANS reported.

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Insiders from the state police have clarified that only two personal security officers (PSOs) engaged in Banerjee’s security were replaced and there has not been any minimum curtailment in her security.

The city police official told IANS that the former chief minister had insisted that the two officers of the Kolkata Police, who remained in-charge of her security when she was the CM should be retained in the same position even now.

However, the insider said that there was “no scope for such appointments of officials on the basis of personal preference in government rules.”

“Security officials are transferred as per duty roster and specific government protocols. In this case too, the same normal administrative reshuffle has taken place. There is no way to accept such personal demands in the government structure,” the report quoted the insider as saying.

Further, it was informed that the replacements of two previous security officers reached her Kalighat residence on Wednesday night. However, they were not allowed by Banerjee and her associates to take charge of duty on grounds that she was not acquainted with them, the insider added.

Also, it has been claimed that police has intensified security arrangements at Banerjee’s residence since Wednesday. This includes placing of view-cutter high barricades in front of her Kalighat residence.

This comes as two Rajya Sabha members of TMC, Derek O’Brien and Sagarika Ghose, as well as the party’s Lok Sabha member, Mahua Moita, made social media posts, wherein they shared a video of empty police kiosk in front of Mamata Banerjee’s residence at Kalighat in South Kolkata. They claimed that police had withdrawn Banerjee’s security arrangement under the instructions of the administration.