Manoj Kumar Verma took charge as the new Commissioner of Police of Kolkata on Tuesday (September 17, 2024) after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee conceded to the demand of protesting junior doctors and removed Vineet Goyal from the post following a meeting with the doctors on Monday night.
The Chief Minister had announced the transfer of Mr. Goyal, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kolkata Police, North, and two senior officials of the Health Department, as demanded by the agitating junior doctors.
Mr. Verma, a 1998 batch IPS officer, has experience in tackling Maoist insurgency in the Jangalmahal area in Southwestern Bengal during the Left regime. In 2011, he played a significant role in the encounter killing of Communist Party of India (Maoist) Polit Bureau member Koteshwara Rao alias Kishenji.
A crisis manager, Mr. Verma had served as Commissioner in the Barrackpore Commissionerate when the region was very volatile amid communal and political clashes between 2019 and 2021. Before the latest assignment, he was the Additional Director General (Law and Order) of West Bengal Police.
The task is cut out for Mr. Verma who has to restore the confidence of the people in the Kolkata Police following the rape and murder of a doctor and the mob attack on the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. Earlier this month, junior doctors held a sit-in demonstration outside the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar and gifted the replica of a human spine to Mr. Goyal, demanding his resignation.
Mr. Goyal will now serve as the Additional Director General and Inspector General of Police in West Bengal Police’s Special Task Force.
Abhishek Gupta, who was serving as DC, North Division, when the doctor was found raped and killed on August 9, was reappointed the Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion of the Eastern Frontier Rifles.
In their five-point demands, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front had demanded disciplinary action against DC, North, and DC, Central. The victim’s parents had alleged that Mr. Gupta had covertly offered them money after her body was found.
In Mr. Gupta’s place, Dipak Sarkar has been appointed DC, North.
On Monday, senior officials of Kolkata Police visited the family of former officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhijit Mondal and expressed solidarity. Mr. Mondal was arrested on Saturday in connection with alleged evidence tampering and delay in filing the FIR in the case.
Published - September 17, 2024 04:03 pm IST
