Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Supriya Mukherjee of the Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate has formally lodged a complaint against the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Andal Police Station in West Burdwan district, alleging that the senior officer facilitated illegal diesel smuggling and subsequently harassed her when she attempted to intervene. The complaint was also submitted to West Bengal Women and Child Welfare Minister Agnimitra Paul, marking a rare instance of a serving police officer escalating an internal corruption allegation through a political channel.

What the ASI Alleged

According to ASI Mukherjee, she was deployed in Andal to curb the illegal transportation of diesel when she began interrogating a group of smugglers. During questioning, the suspects allegedly disclosed that they had an arrangement — described as a 'setting' — with the local police station. The name of an individual identified only as Pappu also reportedly surfaced during the interrogation.

Mukherjee alleged that the smugglers were subsequently released on the orders of the Andal Police Station OC. She further alleged that after the officer-in-charge reviewed footage of her intervention, he subjected her to harassment and had her reassigned to the help desk — a posting she described as a punitive demotion.

In her own words, Mukherjee said: 'I was stopping illegal oil smuggling. That's when they said that there was a setting with the police station. Later, when the officer-in-charge of Andal Police Station saw the video, he harassed me. I was put on the help desk.'

Complaint Reaches Minister Agnimitra Paul

Before filing the formal complaint, ASI Mukherjee approached both Minister Agnimitra Paul and the Commissioner of the Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate with her grievances. The decision to reach out to a minister underscores the ASI's apparent lack of confidence in internal redressal mechanisms — a concern that, critics argue, points to deeper institutional issues within the state police force.

Broader Context: Bengal Police Under Scrutiny

The complaint emerges at a moment of significant turbulence for the West Bengal police establishment. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday announced the suspension of three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in connection with the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024.

Those suspended include the then-Commissioner of Kolkata Police, Vineet Kumar Goyal; the then-Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Division), Abhishek Gupta; and the then-Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Division), Indira Mukherjee. CM Adhikari stated that departmental probes will be initiated against all three and added that the role of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the matter would also be reviewed.

Government's Stated Stance on Policing

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed power in West Bengal, CM Adhikari has reportedly directed the police administration to take a proactive stance against anti-social, illegal, and immoral activities. ASI Mukherjee's action in confronting the smuggling network is being seen, in some quarters, as consistent with that directive — making the alleged retaliation by her superior officer all the more significant.

A departmental inquiry into the Andal Police Station OC's conduct is now anticipated, though no official confirmation of such a probe had been issued at the time of reporting.