Two days into his new job, mayor Bikash Bhattacharya was tipped off on Friday morning about a tree-cutting spree by none other than the chief minister himself.

Around 10.45 am, while on his way to Writers? Buildings, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee spotted the shorn trees along Albert Road, off Camac Street.

?I was coming down the road and suddenly, I saw so many trees chopped off. At first, I couldn?t figure out what had happened ? there had been no storm lately,? Bhattacharjee recalled later.

A disturbed chief minister, who had earlier pledged citizens a green Calcutta, called newly-elected mayor Bhattacharya to inquire.

?The mayor didn?t know about the matter but he promised to look into it. Anyway, the trees have already been chopped,? Bhattacharjee rued.

The call from Writers? created a flutter at the civic headquarters. The mayor immediately sent mayoral council member (parks and gardens) Faiyaz Ahmed Khan on a recce of the site.

Khan and municipal commissioner Debashis Som found that three banyan trees had been ?trimmed? by the parks and gardens wing, as requested by organisers of a rathyatra. Later in the day, mayor Bhattacharya said: ?An official has been showcaused in this connection.?