Centre calls top Bengal officers again after state’s strong reaction

The meeting has been scheduled for 5pm, according to officials. The summons have come after an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda’s convoy earlier this month.

The Centre has once again summoned the chief secretary and director general of police of West Bengal to Delhi regarding the law-and-order situation in the state after they skipped the last meeting on December 14, officials said on Friday. Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla sent a letter in this regard to West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay and DGP Virendra on Thursday evening, they added.

The meeting has been scheduled for 5pm, according to officials. The summons have come after an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda’s convoy earlier this month.

Bandopadhyay had written to the Union home secretary earlier, saying he was directed to request to “dispense with the presence of the state officials” in the meeting in Delhi on December 14. In his two-page letter Bandopadhyay wrote, “While further reports are being obtained and compiled, in the circumstances, I am directed to request you to kindly dispense with the presence of the State officials in the meeting, considering that the State Government is already addressing this issue with utmost seriousness.”