The Murshidabad boy who came too close to power

KOLKATA: IPS officer SMH Mirza’s ancestry can be traced to the Murshidabad nawabs. And it was perhaps his attitude to flaunt his power that led to his arrest by CBI.
Mirza, the second-eldest among four brothers, was an excellent student, say people who have tracked his career. A student of Nawab Bahadur Institution School in Berhampore, he graduated from Maulana Azad College in central Kolkata.After cracking the state civil services examination, he joined the state police. In 2005, the state promoted him in the IPS cadre.
Mirza who has extensively served in the districts witnessed a turning point in his career when he was appointed as Burdwan police superintendent in the Trinamool Congress regime. It was during his tenure as the SP Burdwan that he met Matthew Samuel — then posing as a representative of a fictitious Chennai firm — sometime early in 2014, which led to events culminating in his arrest on Thursday. The state, however, had transferred him out of Burdwan in February 2015 to Barrackpore as the commandant special striking force — an elite counter-terrorism unit of the state police.
People from the area where his home is located — near Hazarduari — say Mirza hails from very humble roots. “One of his younger brothers works for the central forces, while another works as a school teacher. Mirza too had been very studious and focussed,” a person recalled. It is only recently, he pointed out, that Mirza was trying to refurbish his ancestral home. “He has always been aquiet worker. But he has always been very well-connected,” a source said.
His proximity to a section of politicians had ensnared him in a legal tangle, said a section of officers, who had worked with him. Mirza, quite uncharacteristically, used to drop names of several politicians and their alleged proximity with him. In the Narada tapes, too, the person resembling Mirza is seen talking about his “political” connections. He is also seen to be naming two politicians particularly. In another segment, a political leader is seemingly seen asking Samuel to get in touch with one “Mirza”.
It is, therefore, not ironical that Mirza’s career moves appeared eerily linked with that of a senior leader. Mukul Roy, the Trinamool Congress leader, defected to BJP in November 2017. It was the very month when Mirza was suspended in a complaint lodged several months ago. A sub-inspector’s widow lodged a complaint that Mirza had a role in the suicide of her husband. In March 2017, the Calcutta HC had directed the state to act against him. The HC directed the state to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him within a week and “consider suspending him, in consonance with the service rules governing his employment as a Superintendent of Police”. Five days later, the state issued him a showcause.