Mamata ropes in just retired IPS officer Rina Mitra to advise

Senior IPS officer Rina Mitra, a top contender for the post of CBI Director before her retirement last month, has been appointed as the Principal Advisor to the West Bengal government on internal security, a senior official said Wednesday.

Responsibilities of Mitra, who retired on January 31 last, for the newly created post would be defined later in a separate order, he said.

Secretariat insiders described the appointment of Mitra as a tactical move by the Mamata Banerjee government at a time when its officials were at loggerheads with the Federal Investigative agency.

The West Bengal police had a tiff with the CBI recently over its action against Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Sardha chit fund scam case.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had taken strong objection to the CBI act against Kumar and staged a three-day dharna in Kolkata last week.

The West Bengal and the NDA government at the Centre have been on collision course on several other issues related to the law and order in the state in the run up to the general election.

During her long career, Mitra, an IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, had also worked as Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).