The Mamata Banerjee government has split into two a police range in Jungle Mahal apparently to intensify the vigil in the region known as a BJP stronghold ahead of panchayat polls.

The Bankura police range had earlier comprised three Jungle Mahal districts of Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram and was headed by a DIG. Now, there will be two ranges — Bankura and Purulia.

The government on Thursday appointed senior IPS officer Mukesh as DIG, Bankura, while Miraj Khalid is the DIG of the newly created Purulia range.

Mukesh was earlier the DIG of the National Volunteer Force, while Khalid was DIG, Bankura.

The Purulia range will cover the districts of Purulia and Jhargram.

The creation of the new range in Jungle Mahal was part of a rejig that involved around 50 IPS officers across the state. The overhaul is significant as it comes ahead of rural polls scheduled to be held this year.

The BJP had won several gram panchayats in the 2018 rural polls in Jungle Mahal. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Trinamul Congress lost five out of six seats in the region.

Although Trinamul’s performance was better in the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP won most of the seats in the districts of Purulia and Bankura.

Senior IPS officers said the major rejig, split in the police range and the postings of a few police officers known to be in the government’s “good books” in Jungle Mahal indicated that Nabanna wanted to devote special attention to a region where the performance of the ruling dispensation was not satisfactory in the last polls.

“Now, Bankura district will have an SP and a DIG. On the other hand, Purulia and Jhargram will be monitored by another DIG rank officer. It is clear that the government is trying to intensify policing in that region,” said a senior IPS officer.

Apart from the split, Dhritiman Sarkar, the chief of the Diamond Harbour police district, has been posted as the West Midnapore police superintendent.

Sources said the posting was significant as West Midnapore was a trouble zone for the Trinamul Congress as the party faces internal feuds, besides the recent surge in RSS activities.

Sources said Sarkar was sent to Diamond Harbour to manage the law and order crisis in a pocket belonging to the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Now he has been sent to West Midnapore to manage a similar situation.

“Mamata Banerjee had last month visited West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura and had surely felt something was wrong in the region. The posting of senior police officers and split in the police range was decided after her visit,” said a police source.

Apart from the focus on Jungle Mahal, a few other important postings were made on Thursday. Sanjay Singh, the additional director general (ADG), has been posted as the ADG of the special task force (STF) in place of Gyanwant Singh, who will head the armed police section.

In an interesting rejig, which follows Trinamul’s defeat in the Sagardighi Assembly bypoll, the chief of Jangipur police district in Murshidabad, Bholanath Pandey, has been replaced by V.G. Satish Pasumarthi.

Sagardighi comes under the jurisdiction of Jangipur police district.