This is first time in the six decades in the state that a police chief has been removed from his post during the election process.

The commission has also asked the state government to send a panel of three names of senior Indian Police Service officers to appoint a successor to Mr. Yadav within two days.

Chief Electoral Officer I V Subba Rao told media persons in Hyderabad that the Election Commission sent the orders on Wednesday evening after going through the complains of the opposition parties against Yadav for praising Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a public meeting.

The election commissioners also saw the CD containing Yadav's remarks. Yadav had created a storm ten days ago when he praised the chief minister at a press conference in Kurnool district for his decisions like the recruitment of 37,500 policemen in the state force and rehabilitation of surrendered naxalites.

Even as the Election Commission was going through the records and the complaints of the opposition on this issue, DGP Yadav landed himself in another trouble when he left for Singapore without informing the Election Commission to attend an international conference on internal security.

The police sources said that the senior IPS officer, Additional Director General of Police A K Mohanty was likely to be appointed as a successor of DGP Yadav.