KOLKATA: The West Bengal government has suspended four officials and initiated departmental proceedings against them for alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls, but has not lodged any FIRs, thereby partially complying with the directives of the Election Commission (EC).The suspensions came just a week after Chief Secretary Manoj Pant appeared before the EC in New Delhi, where he was allegedly given a deadline of August 21 to suspend and initiate criminal proceedings against the officers by filing FIRs.”While the state government has acted on the suspension directive and initiated departmental proceedings, it has so far not registered any FIRs against the accused, an official at the state secretariat said.He said the suspended officials comprise two electoral registration officers (EROs) and two assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) from South 24 Parganas and Purba Midnapore districts.The suspensions follow allegations of irregularities in the voter rolls of the Baruipur East and Moyna assembly constituencies.EC sources said the officials in question – Debottam Dutta Chowdhury (ERO) and Tathagata Mandal (AERO) from Baruipur East, and Biplab Sarkar (ERO) and Sudipta Das (AERO) from Moyna – are accused of serious procedural violations, including sharing login credentials and breaching data security protocols during the electoral roll revision process.The commission views these lapses as a direct threat to the integrity of the electoral process and is closely monitoring the state government’s response, the official added.
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