India, March 17 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday transferred four top Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in West Bengal, including state's Director General of Police (DGP) Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata commissioner of police Supratim Sarkar, with the move triggering a political slugfest in the eastern state ahead of the assembly polls.

The development comes a day after ECI announced the poll schedule for West Bengal, which will go to polls in two phases on April 23 and April 29, and hours after the commission ordered the removal of the state's two top bureaucrats, chief secretary Nandini Chakravorty and home secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena.

ECI said its directions are to be implemented with immediate effect. "...the off...