West Bengal Additional Superintendent of Police transferred within 24 hours for saying ‘InshaAllah-JazakAllah’

This 2021 batch police officer was serving as the Additional Superintendent of Police of Kharagpur. She was removed and given the post of Deputy Commandant of the 4th Battalion of the State Armed Police. The government notification cited ‘public interest’ as the reason for the transfer.

On September 13, in a video message posted on social media, Bushra Banu described her success experience to government job aspirants. At that time, she used the words ‘Assalamu Alaikum’, ‘InshaAllah’ and ‘JazakAllah’. In the video, she also mentioned the contribution of Aligarh Muslim University’s Residential Coaching Academy.

After the video was published, an organization named ‘Hindu Legal Fund’ lodged a complaint with the state Home Secretary. The organization alleged that as a senior government official, Bushra Banu did not maintain neutrality and did not use nationalist greetings such as ‘Vande Mataram’ or ‘Jai Hind’.

The day after the complaint, on September 14, the state government issued the transfer order. Since then, criticism has begun in political and administrative circles regarding the timing of the transfer decision and the administration’s role.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Police Service officer Partha Ghosh has been appointed as the new Additional Superintendent of Police of Kharagpur. In the same directive, another police officer, Subhendu Mandal, was also transferred.

Although government sources describe the matter as a regular administrative reshuffle, questions have been raised in various quarters because the transfer decision was made within just 24 hours of the complaint.