This story is from February 15, 2019

Commissionerate police tweaks officers' transfer

The Election Commission of India's (ECI) instruction to transfer officials posted in their home districts and those who have spent three years in a district seems to have little effect on the commissionerate of police.
Commissionerate police tweaks officers' transfer
BHUBANESWAR: The Election Commission of India's (ECI) instruction to transfer officials posted in their home districts and those who have spent three years in a district seems to have little effect on the commissionerate of police.
On Thursday, the commissionerate of police swapped many officers between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack except two assistant commissioners of police (ACPs), who were transferred within Bhubaneswar though they have been posted in the city for more than three years.

The two ACPs, Asim Kumar Panda and Rabinarayan Satpathy, serving as ACPs of zone-1 and zone-VI respectively, have been accommodated in the police commissionerate headquarters inside the city limits, triggering speculation about their influence in the power corridors. Among the officers transferred on Thursday were inspectors-in-charge (IICs) of 16 key police stations in Bhubaneswar and 10 in Cuttack.
Panda, who joined as an inspector in Bhubaneswar during the formation of the police commissionerate in 2008, has since not been transferred out of the capital city. In the run-up to 2014 elections, Panda was shifted to the commissionerate headquarters from a police station inside the city and was later (after end of polls) appointed in another police station here.
Satpathy, who too joined the commissionerate police in 2008, was transferred to Cuttack just a few weeks before the 2014 polls. A few weeks after the polls, Satpathy was brought back to Bhubaneswar.
While the two ACPs were unavailable for comments, commissioner of police Satyajit Mohanty, who is also chairman of police establishment board (PEB), said the duo will not be engaged in poll duties.
Mohanty said Panda and Satpathy are two experienced officers, whose presence is required in Bhubaneswar to deal with crisis situations and non-poll related law and order problems. "The PEB that effects the transfer was of the view that some old and proven hands may continue in Bhubaneswar in office posts (not related to poll) as more than 75% of field officers have been shifted," he said. The PEB has four other members, including additional commissioner of police, deputy commissioners of police (Bhubaneswar and Cuttack) and deputy commissioner of police (headquarters).
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About the Author
Debabrata Mohapatra

Debabrata Mohapatra is a senior correspondent at The Times of India, Bhubaneswar. He holds a PG diploma in Journalism from Chennai and covers crime and civic issues. Debabrata spends his leisure reading and watching cricket on TV.

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