After the state excise department, heads have now started rolling in the police department in wake of the hooch tragedy at Sangrampur in South 24 Parganas. The officer-in-charge (OC) of the Usthi police station was removed along with four other police personnel on Sunday.
Debabrata Sen, the officer-in-charge, was punished for dereliction of duty and was “closed” at the district police lines at Alipore in Kolkata.
In the preliminary investigations, he was found to be in cahoots with the hooch traders in his locality and so he did not take any action against the illegal business, disclosed a senior district police officer.
A departmental inquiry has started against Mr Sen, he added. The circle inspector of Mograhat, Somdeb Banerjee, under whose jurisdiction the Usthi police station falls has been given the additional charge of the officer-in-charge.
Besides Mr Sen, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and three constables posted at Usthi, Mograhat and Mandir Bazar police stations respectively were shunted. They have also been “closed” at the district police lines at Alipore. Additional superintendent of police of South 24 Parganas Kankar Prasad Barui confirmed the removal of the ASI.
The move comes following a series of allegations made by the villagers of Sangrampur that the owners of the hooch dens had a nexus with the local police.