Mamata reserves berth for Left’s foe in her train

According to sources,though the officer has told Mamata he would consider the request,he has in fact almost made up his mind to take up the assignment.

Sources also said though the practice of IPS officers being assigned administrative jobs is not common in West Bengal,senior police officers in other states and at the Centre get administrative posts. In UP,for instance,secretary to Chief Minister Mayawati,Vijay Singh,is an IPS officer.

Islam (55),who was stripped of the post of Director (prosecution) on May 6 was made an ‘officer in compulsory waiting’ by the state government. But courtesy DG,Sujit Sarker,he was given the room of DIG (Administration) at the Writers’ Buildings,where he is now cooling his heels. The job of Director (prosecution) is to oversee all public prosecutors in the state. According to sources the state government removed him after he put up a notice in the High Court in February,which said if a victim was not happy with the job of a public prosecutor,he can bring that to the notice of the Director and he has also the option of hiring a private lawyer. This irked the prosecutors,who allegedly lobbied with Minister for Law and Judicial Affairs Rabilal Maitra to ask Islam to withdraw the notice. But he defied the diktat and faced the music.

On May 8 the officer,an accomplished writer who has 59 books to his credit,wrote to Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen protesting against the May 6 order saying that even though three posts of ADG were lying vacant,he was not being allotted any post. Sen is yet to respond.

Earlier too,Islam had brought the state government to its knees when he challenged a vigilance commission inquiry against him in Calcutta High Court. The Court,in its order on November 13,2008,directed the government to pay a fine of Re 1 to Islam for harassing him. He has antagonised the Left government several times by criticising them,and even wrote a book Police Prosonge.

CPM leaders were not ready to comment on the development. “A minister can have his or her own choice. I do not want to make any comment,” senior CPM leader and former MP Mohammad Selim said.

Islam,too,refused to comment. “I do not want to say anything on this,” the officer told The Indian Express.