BENGALURU: Amid the rising Covid-19 cases in the city, the state government on Saturday transferred the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner B H Anil Kumar.
The government's move came as a shock to many as Kumar had taken charge as the civic body chief only recently.
Senior bureaucrat N Manjunath Prasad, who had handed over the charge to Anil Kumar on August 28, 2019, has been brought back as the BBMP Commissioner, with immediate effect, the government order said.
Anil Kumar has now been posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Enterprise, replacing V Rashmi, who has been posted as secretary to the government, Kannada and Culture Department.
Manjunath Prasad, who was working as Principal Secretary (Revenue), will continue to hold the post until further order.
Alleged financial anomalies related to Covid-19 to the tune of around Rs 240 crore could be behind the government move, some BBMP officials said.
Others said he was shunted out after High Court had pulled up the BBMP and the government for not providing adequate supplies to people in the containment zones.
Outgoing commissioner Anil Kumar told The New Indian Express that this was one of the most challenging jobs he had taken up. "It was good and challenging. I also learnt many things while working here. I wanted to do a lot of things like the creation of the vision document for Bengaluru for 2020 but failed to do due to the pandemic. I also wanted to improve the road infrastructure and the solid waste management of the city."