A day after Special Observers reported to the Election Commission (EC) that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured in an accident and not due to a ‘planned attack’, the nodal election body has cracked down on officials for negligence. The EC had accepted the report earlier on Sunday.
In a statement, the Election Commission has ordered the suspension of IPS Vivek Sahay from the post of Director of Security. “Charges must be framed against him within a week for grossly failing in discharge of his primary duty as Director Security to protect the Z+ protectee,” it added.
#UPDATE | Election Commission removes Vivek Sahay from post of Director, Security & places him under suspension.
— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2021
“Charges must be framed against him within a week for grossly failing in discharge of his primary duty as Director Security to protect the Z+ protectee,” the EC says
The nodal election body has also transferred Vibhu Goel from the post of District Magistrate (DM) and DEO of Purba Medinipur and placed IAS Smita Pandey in his place. At the same time, the Election Commission has also suspended the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Purba Medinipur Pravin Prakash for a major failure in the management of the situation. “Charges shall be framed against him for major failure of bandobast,” it said.
Election Commission action on Nandigram incident: EC suspends Purba Medinipur SP Pravin Prakash. “Charges shall be framed against him for major failure of bandobast,” the commission says.
— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2021
According to Times of India journalist Bharti Jain, IPS officer Sunil Kumar Yadav (2009 Batch) will replace IPS Pravin Prakash as the SP of Purba Medinipur. She informed that the Chief Secretary has been asked to appoint Director of Security in place of IPS Vivek Sahay. The Chief Secretary has been directed to consult the Directorate General of Police (DGP) and communicate the same to the EC by 1 pm on Monday (March 15).
She further stated, “A Committee of Chief Secretary and DGP shall identify within next 3 days the other proximate security personnel below Director Security, who failed in their duties to prevent the incident and protect the Z+ protectee and take suitable action for their failure.” At the same time, the CEOs of all poll-bound states and Union Territories have been directed by the Election Commission to ensure the security of star campaigners and candidates of all political parties, in accordance with their respective category of protection.
The Election Commission has also directed the West Bengal Chief Secretary to complete the probe in Mamata Banerjee’s accident case in Nandigram (Case No. 97/21) and take necessary action within 15 days. The nodal election body also asked for a report on the same by March 31, 2021. The EC has also appointed Anil Kumar Sharma, former Punjab DGP (Intelligence), as 2nd Special police Observer along with Vivek Dube.
Mamata Banerjee was injured in an accident, no evidence of attack: Special Observers
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured on Wednesday evening in Nandigram, where she had claimed that she was pushed by 4-5 people, and there was no police security around her. Following it, the TMC leaders had launched a massive attack against BJP and the Election Commission, accusing them of the ‘attack’.
Special police observer Vivek Dubey and special observer Ajay Nayak inspected the accident site in Nandigram before submitting their detailed report to the Election Commission on Saturday. , the report by the special observers has ruled out any possibility of an attack on Mamata Banerjee, saying there is no evidence of any attack.
The observers said that the CM was surrounded by heavy police cover at the time of the incident, and it was not possible for anyone to come near her and push her causing the injury, as claimed by the CM minutes after the incident on Wednesday.
