The Election Commission ordered removal of Virendra as the Director General of Police of West Bengal with immediate effect, on Tuesday. Virendra, a 1985 batch IPS officer, is the first DGP in the state to have been removed from the post.
Nirajnayan Pande, DG, administration of West Bengal Police, has replaced Virendra as the DGP. Pande, a 1987 batch IPS officer, had worked as inspector general of police of North Bengal. Before that, he served the CBI for eight years.
Opposition parties in the state, including the Left and the BJP, had requested the EC to remove Virendra. The commission swung into action and found that the allegations made against Virendra are not baseless. He was accused of being partisan.
Considered very close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in February 2019, Virendra took to street along with her during a CBI raid at the official residence of the then Kolkata police commissioner Rajiv Kumar. A contempt case against Virendra is pending before the Supreme Court.
Before his appointment as DG, he was the head of directorate of state security that looks after security of chief minister.
Pande is known to be a tough officer with colorful background. He was the superintendent of the police in Purulia district, but mostly served on the central deputation.
Election commission has also ruled that Virendra should not be part of any election related work.Â
