Farmers Movement Archive

Bengal IPS officer who arrested BJP workers for 'goli maaro' slogan quits

Humayun Kabir, superintendent of police of Chandannagar in Hooghly district, on Friday resigned from service citing personal reasons, said officials at the state secretariat.Kabir was supposed to retire in April when the assembly polls will be held in Bengal. He recently made headlines by ordering the arrest of three BJP workers who allegedly raised the controversial “Goli maaro” (shoot them) slogan at a rally on January 20. The slogan was heard at a roadshow led by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari who left the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in December.The ruling party faced criticism because no action was taken against its workers who raised the same slogan in Kolkata a day before the BJP rally at Chandannagar.Last year in January, Union minister Anurag Thakur and his followers raised the slogan during the Shaheen Bagh blockade in south Delhi. It triggered a controversy. The slogan says traitors in the country should be shot.Kabir is only the first Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to resign in Bengal in recent years. He was promoted to the rank of inspector general in December.Since Kabir’s wife Anindita Kabir joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in November last year, his resignation immediately triggered speculations that he may join politics. The officer, however, ruled it out.Also read: Tikri simmers after ‘locals’ demand farmers’ eviction“I resigned because I cannot find time for other work. I am associated with many social welfare organisations. I have no plans to join politics. What my wife did is her decision. All individuals have choices,” Kabir told the local media at Chandannagar.Kabir’s association with several NGOs is well known. The saffron camp targeted him several times in the past. A Rightist organization criticised him in December last year for saying at a non-government programme that he will stand by Muslims during hours of peril.Kabir will be working till January 31. The government on Friday put Gaurav Sharma, joint commissioner of Kolkata Police, in charge of Chandannagar police district.

Hindustan Times

30-01-2021

Kolkata