Kolkata, April 9: The Election Commission Tuesday ordered the transfer of police chief of West Bengal's Cooch Behar district and posted another officer in his place ahead of polling in the district on April 11. The Election Commission said Superintendent of Police, Cooch Behar, Abhishek Gupta be transferred out and be replaced by Amit Kumar Singh.

The transfer orders came ahead of polling in the district on Thursday and the Commission said Gupta will not be allowed any election related duty. A notification in this regard described the move as a step of preparedness for the first phase polling. Reacting to the development, Trinamool Congress's secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, "We wonder whether the Election Commission is really working as a impartial body." Coochbehar Lok Sabha Constituency in West Bengal: Candidates, Current MP, Polling Date And Election Results 2019.

He alleged that BJP leader Mukul Roy had threatened the Cooch Behar police chief during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit on Sunday and accused him of working for the TMC. "The BJP is trying to convert the EC into its extended party office. Why is the EC acting on behalf of the BJP? Is it democracy?" Chatterjee said. BJP's West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh welcomed Gupta's removal and said free and fair election is not possible in the state till the officers acting at the behest of their TMC masters are removed.

Last week, the poll panel had ordered the transfer of four police officers in the state, triggering a sharp reaction from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Banerjee had then accused the EC of transferring the officers at the behest of the ruling BJP at the Centre. The Commission had rejected the charge, saying the decision was based on "cumulative feedback" from one of its top officials and the special police observer.