The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday suspended the inspector-in-charge of Basanti police station in South 24 Parganas in West Bengal, a day after clashes between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) left several injured.
The Poll Committee directed the State Chief Secretary to suspend Paul and initiate departmental proceedings against him. “It has been observed that Inspector Avijit Paul, Director of Basanti Police Station, failed to make adequate policing arrangements despite having prior information regarding public programs of two political parties. Moreover, CAPF (Central Armed Police Force) has been made available in the last few days. Despite this, he has not asked the CAPF to maintain law and order. This reflects serious negligence and dereliction of duty on his part,” the EC said in its letter to the state chief secretary.
Prabir Ghosh, inspector of state police enforcement branch, was appointed in Paul’s place.
According to police, at least a dozen TMC and BJP workers and seven policemen were injured on Thursday, after supporters of both parties attacked each other with sticks and bricks around 1 pm in Basanti Bazar area, where BJP candidate Bikash Sardar was campaigning with his followers.
The Socialist Revolutionary Party, a partner in the Left Front, won the Basanti constituency in all previous elections from 1977 to 2011, when the TMC came to power. TMC won the seat in 2016 and won again in 2021.
The ECI also announced the schedule for two-phase elections to West Bengal’s 294 seats in April.
