West Bengal polls: EC suspends 4 policemen after TMC workers stormed Amit Shah’s Bhabanipur road show

New Delhi: election committee West Bengal chief secretary on Saturday directed the West Bengal chief secretary to suspend four Kolkata policemen for their “failure” to maintain law and order during the time when BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari filed his nomination for the upcoming assembly elections in Babanipur constituency.The direction was taken on the advice of state election officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the poll panel said in a notification to the West Bengal chief secretary.“The committee has agreed to the proposal and directed that the above-mentioned police officers be suspended and disciplinary proceedings initiated against them immediately,” the notice read.The letter also directed action against Siddhartha Dutta, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DC-II), South Zone, Kolkata; Priyankar Chakraborty, Superintendent of Police, Alipore; Additional OC Chandi Charan Banerjee; and Sergeant Saurabh Chatterjee.Additionally, the EC asked state authorities to ensure immediate implementation of its directives and submit compliance reports by 11 am on Monday.The poll panel also sought urgent proposals from the state government to fill vacant posts, including officer-in-charge posts of DC-II, South Zone and Alipore police stations.Earlier, TMC workers waved the party flag during the BJP roadshow ahead of Adhikari filing his nomination on Thursday. Union Minister Amit Shah also accompanied Adhikari when he files his nomination papers on April 2 from the Kolkata South seat, where the leader of opposition in the outgoing Assembly will contest against the current chief minister Mamata Banerjee.As the convoy approached Kalighat, just a few hundred meters away from Banerjee’s residence, Trinamool Congress workers and supporters gathered on the roadside, waving green and white party flags and chanting slogans of “Happy Bengal” and “Mamata Banerjee Zindabad”.However, the situation turned tense when a BJP roadshow and TMC protest met near Kalighat.Within minutes, supporters of the two rival camps were standing meters apart from each other, hurling slogans at each other.Police personnel formed a human wall between the two groups to prevent clashes, with officers pushing rival supporters back to the sides of the road.The confrontation paralyzed traffic and heightened tensions in the area before the BJP convoy moved on.