Election Commission on Saturday ordered the transfer of the Returning Officer of Madurai-East constituency S Sugumaran forthwith.
The commission directed the authorities to post him out of the district immediately.
The move comes in the backdrop of Sugumaran accusing his senior poll officer of harassing and pressuring him to file cases against Union minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam strongman M K Alagiri and his party workers.
The revenue divisional officer Sugumaran had alleged that Collector U Sahayam phoned him frequently and was harassing him though he was maintaining a neutral stand.
Sugumaran has been admitted to a private hospital with complaints of high blood pressure.
Reacting to Sugumaran's complaint, the collector denied he had asked the RDO to file any case. "Will anybody do like this? I have no time for election work itself. It is a lie." He did not harass the RDO, the collector said.
