west-bengal-reshuffles-33-senior-ips-officers
The West Bengal government has carried out a major administrative reshuffle involving 33 senior IPS and WBPS officers, making significant changes across the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Intelligence Branch (IB), Special Task Force (STF), Kolkata Police, and several district police units.
The most notable change is the transfer of Supratim Sarkar, who has been moved from his position as Additional Director General and Inspector General of Police (ADG & IGP), CID, to ADG, Telecommunications, West Bengal Police. He has also been relieved of his additional responsibility as head of the Intelligence Branch (IB). Sarkar had been overseeing several high-profile investigations, making his transfer one of the most discussed decisions in the reshuffle.
Senior IPS officer Natarajan Ramesh Babu has been appointed as the new Director General and Inspector General of Police, CID. He will continue to hold additional charge as Director General of Correctional Services while taking over the state's premier investigative agency.
The reshuffle also brings changes to the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, where Tripurari Atharva has been posted as ADG, Traffic and Road Safety, while Rathore Amit Kumar Bharat has been appointed the new Commissioner of Police.
Further changes include Vishal Garg taking charge as ADG & IGP, Intelligence Branch, Anand Kumar becoming ADG & IGP, Western Zone, K. Jayaraman moving to the Directorate of Economic Offences, and Sukesh Kumar Jain assuming charge of the North Bengal Range.
The Special Task Force (STF) has also received new leadership, with Sudhir Kumar Neelakantam appointed as Inspector General of STF, replacing Praveen Kumar Tripathi, who has been transferred to the Home Guards.
At the district level, Pratiksha Jharkharia has been shifted from Darjeeling as Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Armed Police, while Yelwad Shrikant Jagannathrao takes over as Darjeeling SP. Jaspreet Singh has been transferred from Cooch Behar to the Criminal Investigation and Child Welfare Wing (CCIW), with Manish Joshi becoming the new SP of Cooch Behar.
Within Kolkata Police, Pradeep Kumar Yadav has been appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Cyber Crime Division, Arindam Sarkar will head the Eastern Division, and Rajeev Kumar has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of the STF.
The reshuffle also affects several WBPS officers, including changes in Baruipur, Purba Medinipur Rural, and the Sundarbans Police District.
While the state government has described the transfers as part of a routine administrative exercise, the scale of the reshuffle indicates an effort to strengthen policing, enhance administrative efficiency, and improve law enforcement across West Bengal.