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

The Election Commission led by Rajiv Kumar, ordered the removal of West Bengal director general of police Rajeev Kumar on Monday.

The Election Commission led by Rajiv Kumar, ordered the removal of West Bengal director general of police Rajeev Kumar on Monday. The poll panel has asked the chief secretary of the state to provide a list of three eligible officers for Kumar's replacement by 5 pm today.

Mamata Banerjee interacting with West Bengal DG Rajeev Kumar during an award ceremony (Photo by Samir Jana/ Hindustan Times)

Apart from Kumar, the poll panel also ordered the removal of home secretaries of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, as well as the removal of Brihanmumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, along with additional commissioners and deputy commissioners. Additionally, secretaries of the general administrative departments in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh are also among those who have been removed.

This comes days after the Election Commission announced Lok Sabha election dates and is considered a part of the commission's efforts to maintain a level playing field and ensure the integrity of the electoral process.

Who is West Bengal DGP, Rajeev Kumar?

1. Rajeev Kumar, known to be close to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, is a 1989-batch IPS officer.
2. He was appointed as the DGP in December 2023 after the retirement of Manoj Malaviya.
3. Previously, he has served as the chief of Kolkata Police and Bidhannagar Police. He also headed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Special Task Force (STF), and served as the principal secretary of the department of information technology and electronics.
4. In 2019, the CBI accused Kumar of allegedly suppressing and destroying evidence in the investigation of the Saradha scam while leading a SIT set up by the state government to probe the matter.
5. Following the CBI's accusation and its search of Kumar's house in February 2019 over the accusation in the Saradha scam, Mamata Banerjee sat on a two-day dharna. She called off the demonstration after the Supreme Court granted him protection from arrest by the federal agency.