The Election Commission ordered the transfer of Bankura district magistrate Uma Shankar and appointment of Mukta Arya as the new DM S soon after the voting was over on Sunday.

Sources said the instruction from the ECI had reached Nabanna on Sunday evening and the Bengal government would issue the transfer order on Monday morning.

Arya is a 2008-batch IAS officer currently posted as a joint secretary in food processing department.

The transfer has raised eyebrows in the administrative circles as senior officials could not recall the transfer of a DM soon after voting in recent memory.

A section of the officials said there were still some processes left in the general election. “For example, the new DM could preside over repolls, if ordered, and she would have to conduct the counting in two constituencies, Bankura and Bishnupur,” said an official.