Ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal, the Election Commission removed the sitting Director General of Police (DGP) and Chief Secretary and appointed new officers to the posts.
Senior IAS officer Dushyant Nariala will replace Nandini Chakravarty as the Chief Secretary, while top police officer Siddh Nath Gupta has been appointed as the DGP, replacing Peeyush Pandey.
The poll body specified that Chakravarty would be kept out of all election-related assignments.
The election authority has also directed the appointment of Sanghamitra Ghosh as principal secretary, Home and Hill Affairs.
According to the Commission's directive, 1992-batch IPS officer Siddh Nath Gupta has been posted as the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG & IGP) in charge of West Bengal.
Gupta has handled complex law and order situations and overseen critical administrative transitions within the state's police force in his three-decade-long career. He played an instrumental role in managing the law and order situations during the Nandigram unrest, the Lalgarh Naxal movement, and the Gorkhaland agitation in Darjeeling. He also has extensive experience in handling communal flare-ups and riots across the state.
Meanwhile, senior officer Ajay Kumar Nand has been appointed as the Commissioner of Kolkata Police, replacing Supratim Sarkar.
Natarajan Ramesh Babu has been appointed as the Director General of Correctional Services in the state, while Ajay Mukund Ranade has been posted as the Additional Director General and Inspector General of Police (Law and Order).
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