EC transfers 4 Collectors, IPS officers before Gujarat polls

New Delhi: To ensure free and fair elections in Gujarat, the Election Commission has directed the state government to transfer four Collectors and as many IPS officers with immediate effect. Among the four Collectors replaced are those of Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Dahod and Tapi. The Superintendents of Police in Jamnagar and Patan, besides Deputy Commissioner of Police in Surat City and a Joint Commissioner of Special branch in Ahmedabad have also been transferred, EC sources said. Confirming the transfers, Gujarat’s Chief Electoral Officer Anita Karwal said, “The transfers have been initiated for administrative reasons and for ensuring smooth conduct of elections to help bring in more efficiency.” [caption id=“attachment_514954” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] M Thennarasan replaces JB Vora as Collector-cum-DM of Banaskantha district, while Samina Hussain replaces L C Patel as Collector in Sabarkantha district and Rakesh Shamkar replaces Luni as Collector of Dahod district. Shalini Agarwal takes over from RJ Patel as the new collector in Tapi district. Joint Commissioner of Police, special branch, Ahmedabad, A K Sharma has been transferred out and Vikas Sahai has been posted in his place. Among the other IPS officers replaced, Himanshu Shukla will take over as the new SP of Jamnagar from H G Patel and Sara Rizvi will take over as the new SP in Patan, replacing M S Bharoda. M M Anarwala will be the new DCP Surat City replacing N D Solanki. Anarwala was on October 25 shifted from Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic in Ahmedabad, to the state crime record bureau in Gandhinagar. PTI