KOLKATA : The Election Commission’s decision to relieve West Bengal home secretary Atri Bhattacharya of his duties was triggered by a letter he wrote to the state’s chief electoral officer (CEO). In its order, a copy of which is with the ET, EC said the state home secretary tried to ‘instruct’ the election commission instead of following its orders.The senior official had mentioned in his letter how central armed police forces (CAPF) should be deployed. “(There are) disturbing developments regarding the functioning of CAPF deployed in West Bengal during the conduct of elections. You will be aware of the incidents of firing by CAPF during the polls on May 12.There were five such incidents. In addition, there are reports of CAPF personnel behaving roughly with voters in queue and lathi-charging them without justification,” Bhattacharya said in the letter to CEO Ariz Aftab.“CAPF are deployed as reinforcement and extra resources in the joint effort for conducting free and fair elections. They need to have with them local officers who know the locality and the situation and can communicate with voters whose democratic rights are to be protected. I would, therefore, request that the decision for not having a local officer in charge of ORTs be re-examined. I would most earnestly request that CAPF officers and personnel be sensitised to the needs of the voters exercising their franchise, which would reduce the perceived need to resort to physical force against them,” Bhattacharya said in his letter.According to state government insiders, EC transferred CID ADG Kumar out of the state for allegedly picking up BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga from a hotel in the wee hours on Wednesday and handing him over to the Kolkata Police for ‘further action’. Bagga was reportedly present at the spot where violence took place on Tuesday. The Kolkata Police has registered a case for rioting and arson against ‘unknown persons’. According to the EC order, Kumar has been directed to report to the ministry of home affairs by 10 am on May 16 and EC has also asked chief secretary Malay Dey to discharge the home secretary’s duties.The EC decision on the two officers came a day after BJP chief Amit Shah was forced to call off his roadshow following clashes between supporters of BJP and Trinamool near Vidyasagar College in north Kolkata. A source said the final decision was taken after EC’s special police observer Vivek Dubey in his report alleged that the said officers were involved in certain incidents in the state during polls.A senior BJP leader claimed the police had information about mobilisation of Trinamool cadre near the college and university but did not make an effort to disperse them. The BJP leader, a close associate of Shah, alleged that police also had information about Trinamool workers pelting stones on Shah but did not take act.Reacting to the EC order, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said: “I don’t consider this an order from EC. This is an order by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Shah.How can EC send officers on central deputation? What is the problem they have with Rajeev Kumar? Is this because he was arresting their hawala operators? This is biased and politically motivated,” Banerjee alleged.