Shunted by Mamata in Park Street rape case, Damyanti Sen made secy of crime against women panel

CM Suvendu Adhikari has brought back the state's widely acclaimed "super cop," IPS officer Damayanti Sen. Sen, a 1996-batch Indian Police Service officer, has been assigned a senior, high-profile role in a newly constituted state committee specifically tasked with investigating crimes and violence against women. The powerful panel's investigative jurisdiction will comprehensively stretch across highly sensitive zones, ranging from the volatile pockets of Sandeshkhali to urban sectors like Kasba.

Damayanti Sen shot to national prominence in February 2012 when she successfully cracked the sensational Park Street gang-rape case involving victim-activist Suzette Jordan. At the time, the then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had publicly dismissed the gang-rape allegation as a "fabricated incident" designed solely to malign the ruling dispensation. Defying immense administrative and political pressure, Sen's detective department meticulously tracked down the moving vehicle via CCTV footage and apprehended three main culprits, confirming the crime.

However, her professional integrity and refusal to toe the political line reportedly came at a heavy cost. Shortly after solving the high-profile case, she was unceremoniously transferred out of Kolkata Police's core detective wing to a low-profile posting as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Training at the Police Training College in Barrackpore.

However, her professional integrity and refusal to toe the political line reportedly came at a heavy cost. Shortly after solving the high-profile case, she was unceremoniously transferred out of Kolkata Police's core detective wing to a low-profile posting as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Training at the Police Training College in Barrackpore. Throughout the tenure of the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, the senior officer remained largely sidelined or placed in "recessive," non-operational roles, far away from leading major state investigations.