Anuj Sharma to replace Rajeev Kumar as Kolkata Police Commissioner

Additional Director General of West Bengal Police (law and order) Anuj Sharma was on Tuesday appointed as the new Kolkata Police Commissioner after his predecessor Rajeev Kumar was transferred as ADG & IGP of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Sharma, a 1991 batch IPS officer, was promoted from IG (Law and Order) to the rank of ADG in 2015. He played a key role in maintaining law and order during last year’s Gorkha unrest in Darjeeling. Outgoing city police chief Rajeev Kumar, who has been at the centre of a controversy over the CBI questioning him in chit fund scam case, has been posted as ADG & IGP of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Kumar, who was due for transfer ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, was moved out following an Election Commission directive. The state BJP, according to sources, has been pressing the party leadership in Delhi to put pressure on a section of IPS officers seen as close to West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee before the Lok Sabha polls, and Kumar was on top of the list. Kumar faced marathon questioning by the CBI in Shillong after the Supreme Court directed him to appear before the agency and cooperate in the investigation of cases arising out of the chit fund scandal. The court chose Shillong as the neutral meeting place “to avoid all unnecessary controversy” and made it clear that Kumar would not be arrested. The CBI approached the Supreme Court after its officials were thwarted by Kolkata Police when they went to Kumar’s official residence to question him on February 3. Source: Indian Express