Centre asks state govt to inquire about role of 5 top cops who sat on 'dharna' with CM

Kolkata: The Union Home ministry has sent a letter to the Bengal government to inquire about the role of five IPS officers who allegedly attended Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's 'dharna' on Sunday. However, it may be noted that the officers did not go to the sit-in protest at any point in time and were not seen sharing the stage with the Chief Minister.

According to sources, after Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi sent a report regarding the conflict between Kolkata Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the letter to the state government, asking the latter to find out about the role of these police personnel.

The five IPS officers include Virendra, Director General of Police (DGP), West Bengal; Additional Director General (ADG), Law and Order (L&O) Anuj Sharma; Director Security in the rank of ADG, Vineet Kumar Goyal; Commissioner of Police (CP), Bidhannagar, Gyanwant Singh and Additional Commissioner of Police (Addl CP) III, Kolkata Police, Supratim Sarkar.

It is important to mention that these police officers had only met the Chief Minister for a discussion when she went to the Metro Channel to begin the 'dharna' and left soon after. Incidentally, Goyal is in-charge of the Chief Minister's security. All had gone to meet the Chief Minister to finalise the arrangements for the Bengal Global Business Summit, scheduled just two days later with more than 4,000 delegates and foreign dignitaries taking part.

Sarkar is responsible for traffic and had gone to finalise the arrangements for Monday's Investiture Ceremony where Banerjee gave away the annual awards for the state and Kolkata Police. The function was held at a makeshift stage next to the 'dharna manch', separately constructed for the awards event.