450 cops moved out in run-up to Bengal election

Kolkata: Nearly 450

police

officers, in the rank of inspectors to circle inspectors, have been transferred out of their home districts in the past month-and-a-half.

The Election Commission (EC) usually transfers police officers from home districts to insulate them from local political pressure during

polls

. The

Bengal

government will provide EC with a detailed list of these transfers on Tuesday.

The transfers, incidentally, have been made before EC announces poll dates and the model code of conduct kicks in in Bengal. Sources said state CEO Ariz Aftab had already met IGP(II) (headquarters) K Jayaraman and several other senior police officers to discuss the transfers.

“The state CEO office, along with state police, is preparing a database of police officers, detailing their immediate and past postings. The list will have to be sent to the commission by Tuesday evening,” an official at the CEO office said.

The EC full bench, in their meeting with DMs and SPs, had prioritised law and order as their primary task in the coming polls.

An official said: “The process of transferring police officers before election to cut them off from local influence was successfully implemented in the recent elections in Bihar and it had a very good effect. The commission wants to replicate the same process in West Bengal. We hope to get good results.”