Who is Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, considered ‘close’ to CM Mamata Banerjee?

On Monday, the Election Commission, led by Rajiv Kumar, ordered the removal of West Bengal’s director general of police, Rajeev Kumar.

On Monday, the Election Commission, led by Rajiv Kumar, ordered the removal of West Bengal’s director general of police, Rajeev Kumar. The election panel has directed the state’s chief secretary to furnish a list of three eligible officials to replace Kumar by 5 p.m. today.

Aside from Kumar, the poll panel ordered the removal of home secretaries from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, as well as Brihanmumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and additional commissioners and deputy commissioners. Additionally, secretaries of general administrative departments in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh have been sacked.

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This comes only days after the Election Commission published Lok Sabha election dates, and it is seen as part of the commission’s efforts to keep the electoral process fair and transparent.
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Who is West Bengal’s DGP, Rajeev Kumar?

1. Rajeev Kumar, an IPS officer from the 1989 batch, is considered to be close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
   
   
2. He was named DGP in December 2023, following the retirement of Manoj Malaviya.
   
   
3. He formerly served as chief of the Kolkata Police and the Bidhannagar Police. He also led the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Special Task Force (STF), and was the principal secretary of the Department of Information Technology and Electronics.
   
   
   
4. In 2019, the CBI accused Kumar of allegedly suppressing and destroying evidence during the Saradha scam inquiry while commanding a state government-appointed SIT.
   
   
5. Mamata Banerjee staged a two-day dharna in February 2019 in response to the CBI’s charge and search of Kumar’s home in connection with the Saradha fraud. She canceled the demonstration when the Supreme Court granted him immunity from arrest by the federal agency.