The Union home ministry on Saturday summoned three IPS officers in Bengal for central deputation amid suggestions that the decision was taken to “punish” the trio in connection with the attack on the convoy of BJP national president J.P. Nadda on Thursday.

The Bengal government has informed the Union ministry that it would be unable to release the three officers.

The three officers are Rajeev Mishra, additional director-general of South Bengal; Praveen Kumar Tripathi, deputy inspector-general of the Presidency range covering the districts of South 24-Parganas, Howrah and North 24-Parganas; and Bhola Nath Pandey, superintendent of police, Diamond Harbour police district.

An official in Calcutta said the Union home ministry had sent a letter on Friday seeking the release of the three officers.

“The Union home ministry’s letter said the three officers had been attached to the ministry. Although it was not mentioned in the letter, it is clear they are being punished for the alleged security breach involving Nadda’s convoy on Thursday,” the official said.

A retired IPS officer said the Centre’s decision was a clear attempt to scare IPS officers ahead of the Assembly polls next year. “The BJP-led Centre is trying to scare the officers to buy their loyalty ahead of the polls.… This is nothing but a political move,” he said.

An official in Bengal said: “The chief secretary wrote to the Union home secretary expressing the government’s inability to release the officers. The state government has not cited any reason for its inability to release the officers as the Centre did not show any reason why it wanted to place these officers in central deputation.”

Sources said the Centre had asked the state to send the release orders by December 15.

“The Centre has written that if the state does not get back within the given time period, it would be considered that the officers have been released. This is the reason the state informed the Centre of its inability to release the officers,” an official said.

Trinamul Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, too, wrote to the Union home secretary, saying the Centre was trying to exert pressure on the officers as they had been deployed near the “place of occurrence”.

Several senior officials expressed surprise at the Centre’s move, saying such decisions were usually taken only after consulting the state government.

An official said the Union home ministry normally sent the states a list of police officers empanelled for central deputation for that particular year.

“The states are then left to decide and reply with the names of those that can be spared. As the Union home secretary is the cadre-controlling authority, the Union home ministry draws up the list of officers after going through their annual confidential reports and empanels them against different vacancies. But for the process to be completed, a no-objection certificate from the state is a must,” the official explained.

Another official said the attachment of the officers because of the security breach involving Nadda’s convoy appeared arbitrary.

“It’s clear that they are being punished, but they should have been given an opportunity to defend themselves. Besides, the state should have been asked to conduct an inquiry into the officers’ roles,” the bureaucrat said.

Bengal police are continuing with the probe. After arresting seven people on Thursday, the police arrested eight from Usthi and Falta on Saturday for their alleged involvement in the stoning of some of the vehicles in Nadda’s convoy while he was travelling to Diamond Harbour.