Banerjee, who was away in the sea resort of Digha when the incident happened, made no secret of her annoyance at the handling of the violence soon as she returned to the city.
"There are some names missing in the FIR. I will enquire why," she said.
Hours later, Pachnanda was shunted out. He was transferred to the comparatively less significant post of additional director general (security).
"I had to take such strong action because the criminals were not arrested in time," Banerjee explained.
There were, however, many who held that Pachnanda got the sack for taking a personal initiative in nabbing Shubhaan, the man whom cameras had caught firing the shot. Shubhaab was a close associate of Iqbal.
Pachnanda had named the Trinamool leader in the FIR.
"It seems he bit off more than he could chew," a police functionary told IANS sarcastically, referring obliquely to a 14-year-old "bite".
