In a reshuffle ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on Monday, the Election Commission (EC) moved West Bengal’s Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar to the state's Information and Technology department and appointed him its secretary. Vivek Sahay, a 1988-batch IPS officer, serving as the Director General and Commandant General (Home Guards) has taken over as the state police chief. Sahay was previously in charge of security control of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and was suspended in March 2021 ahead of that year’s Assembly election after the CM injured her leg while campaigning in Nandigram. Kumar has been at the centre of many controversies, with several Opposition leaders in West Bengal pointing to his alleged links with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls, Opposition leaders alleged that Kumar, the Kolkata Police commissioner at the time, was tapping their phones and acting at the TMC’s behest. Kumar was removed from the post at the EC’s direction. However, as soon as the polls were over, he was brought back as police commissioner. About three years later, the Opposition reiterated its accusation. In February 2019, the CBI raided Kumar’s house in connection with the Sarada chit fund case. In an unprecedented move, Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna at Kolkata’s Esplanade. After about 70-odd hours, Banerjee ended her dharna after the Supreme Court directed that no coercive steps, including arrest, should be taken against Kumar. The court directed Kumar to “faithfully cooperate” with the investigating agency. Last December, when Kumar, who was serving as the secretary of the state IT department, was appointed the state’s DGP, the officer’s alleged closeness to the TMC dispensation was again in the spotlight. His removal as the state police chief has once also stirred a political row. CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim alleged that Kumar was “busy hiding the illegal work of the ruling party” and that he had “guarded” Sheikh Shahjahan, the now-arrested TMC strongman accused of sexually harassing women in Sandeshkali in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya said Kumar’s removal was in line with EC’s duty to “conduct elections in a free and fair atmosphere”. In response, the TMC alleged that the BJP was “controlling” the EC. “The BJP has taken control of the EC like other Central agencies. This decision reflects that,” said TMC leader Kunal Ghosh. From Mamata’s ‘reservations’ to top cop The first posting of Kumar, who is from Uttar Pradesh, was as the subdivisional police officer in Chandannagar. The 58-year-old later became the Superintendent of Police of Birbhum. In 2008, he was the joint commissioner of the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police. A government officer said after she became the CM in 2011, Mamata Banerjee held “reservations” about Kumar. A senior police officer said top officials in the department were later “able to convince the Bengal CM of his efficiency”. In January 2012, Kumar was appointed the Commissioner of the Bidhannagar Police Commiserate. After the Sarada chit fund scam broke out in 2013, Kumar was appointed to head the Special Task Force (STF) that investigated the case. Kumar and his team went on to arrest the accused — businessman Sudipto Sen and two of his associates — from Jammu and Kashmir in April 2013. Just a month later, the Supreme Court transferred all cases related to the alleged scam to the CBI. On February 3 2019, CBI teams visited Kumar’s residence to question him, alleging that he had tampered with 'destroyed evidence and connived with accused persons' as chief of STF, following which investigators of the central agency and Kolkata Police officers had a standoff. That was the evening Mamata initiated her dharna. "What gave them (CBI) the audacity to raid the house of the police Commissioner without a search warrant? Rajeev Kumar is one of the best police officers. He is not involved in the Sarada scam. He only headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which we had formed to probe the Saradha scam. This is a deliberate attempt to harass the Opposition," she said. A retired police officer said Kumar had “played a major role in sharing inputs on anti-terrorism cells”, adding, “His skill in electronic surveillance was known by investigative agencies throughout the country.” The officer also said, “During his stint in Kolkata Police STF, he was instrumental in nabbing terrorists and busting fake currency rackets. He had a major role to play in the arrest of accused persons including Aftab Ansari who was the mastermind of high-profile cases like the American Center attack (2002) and the Khadim owner’s abduction (2001).” According to senior police officers, Kumar also played a big hand in combating Maoists in the state and played a key role in the arrest of Chattradhar Mahato, the leader of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities that started in Lalgarh in West Bengal’s Jhargram district in 2009. It was alleged to be a frontal organisation of Maoists.
