The Committee set up by the West Bengal government to probe the attack on a police camp at Silda, will be able to commence its work only after the new Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Zulfikar Hassan takes charge.
State Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen told journalists here on Saturday that Mr. Hassan was likely to take charge on Monday. He replaced Kuldip Singh and is a member of the three-member committee set up by the State government to enquire into one of the worst attacks on police in left wing extremist (LWE) areas.
The February 15 strike killed 24 jawans of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR). The Committee headed by Mr. Sen was constituted by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. It will go into all aspects of the matter including the events preceding it. The report is expected in two months.
A day after the constitution of the committee, the State government announced a reshuffle of key policemen. The changes saw the appointment of Mr. Zulfikar Hasan as the Inspector General of Police (Western range) replacing the present incumbent Mr. Kuldip Singh who became IG (Organisation). Anil Kumar, Deputy Inspector General (Rail) became DIG (Medinipur), replacing Piyush Pandey who moved to Delhi.
The changes came eight days after the attack on the Silda camp in Paschim Medinipur. Mr. Sen said that this was part of an exercise aimed at toning up the administration in the LWE areas. Asked whether this was a fall-out of the Silda strike, he said that it would not be correct to say so.
