One state, three DGPs, 24 hours.

Till Monday afternoon, Bengal’s DGP was 1989-batch IPS officer Rajeev Kumar. On Monday evening, 1988-batch officer Vivek Sahay was named the DGP following an Election Commission of India directive to remove Kumar. On Tuesday afternoon, the EC appointed 1989-batch officer Sanjoy Mukherjee as the new DGP, replacing Sahay.

Mukherjee, the director-general of fire and emergency services, took charge as the DGP on Tuesday evening.

Many in the bureaucracy expressed surprise at this game of musical chairs.

Senior officials in the state home department said the state government was only following the orders issued by the apex poll panel.

A senior state government official said that according to the EC’s order issued on Monday, the election commission had asked the state government to remove Kumar as DGP and shift him to a “non-election” post.

“The order also mentioned that Kumar’s charge be given to the next senior officer at the police headquarters till the posting of a new DGP,” said a senior IAS officer.

The EC on Monday sought a list of three IPS officers from the state government for their consideration for the post of DGP.

The three names — Vivek Sahay, Sanjoy Mukherjee and Rajesh Kumar — were sent to the EC on Monday. Sahay, the senior-most IPS officer of the state, was named DGP by the state government following the EC order.

The EC on Tuesday, however, selected Mukherjee as the new DGP from the list of three and informed the Bengal government, seeking compliance to the order by Tuesday 5pm.

Sources in the state home department said Sahay’s scheduled retirement in May 2024 could be a factor in the selection of the new DGP. “He (Sahay) will retire in May 2024 but the last phase of elections is scheduled on June 1 and the counting date on June 4. The DGP’s retirement during the election process could give rise to new complications. This could be one of the factors (behind Mukherjee’s selection),” said the official.

Mukherjee, who has earlier served as deputy commissioner (headquarters) and deputy commissioner of the detective department (special) in Calcutta police, had also been posted as special inspector-general of police in the CID, inspector-general of police (south Bengal), Barrackpore police commissioner, principal secretary in the state correctional services and additional director-general of police (CID), among others.

An economics graduate from Presidency College, Mukherjee did his MBA from IIM Calcutta.

Decorated with several prestigious police medals, Mukherjee is also an avid quiz buff.