Bhaskar Rao, the new Bengaluru police commissioner; Alok Kumar transferred

Bengaluru, July 03: The BJP government in Karnataka on Friday transferred seven top IPS officers, but cancelled two of them later. Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) official Bhaskar Rao was appointed as the new Bengaluru police commissioner in place of Alok Kumar, who was transferred 'with immediate effect'.

Alok Kumar was transferred to the Karnataka State Reserved Police as Additional Director General of Police, which Rao had held previously, an official notification said.

Alok Kumar, who has had his share of controversies in the past, had taken charge as Bengaluru police commissioner on 17 June replacing T Suneel Kumar.

Kumar's exit comes days after B.S. Yediyurappa took over as the chief minister of Karnataka after the 14 month old Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) coalition government collapsed after a spate of resignations since 1 July.

The government ordered the transfers of six other IPS officers Umesh Kumar, Hemant Nimbalkar, B R Ravikanthe Gowda, R Chethan, D Devaraja and Dr M Ashwini but cancelled the transfers of Umesh Kumar and Ravikanthe Gowda in the evening.

Umesh was transferred as Inspector General of Police of fire services, while Gowda was transferred as the Joint commissioner of police, Bengaluru West, the notification said.

On Thursday, the government had transferred 11 top IPS officers, including the intelligence chief. It had also moved out both Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Mangaluru City Sandeep Patil and Hanumantharaya, who were involved in Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha's death probe.

A day after the body of businessman and Cafe Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha was found in Mangaluru, the government had also decided to transfer both top cops from the coastal district.