Mangaluru: In the wake of frequent incidents of murder and violence reported in Dakshina Kannada district — including three murders in a span of one month, such as those of Suhas Shetty and Abdul Rahman — the Karnataka government, attributing the unrest to alleged police negligence, has transferred senior police officials of both Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

The recent murder of Abdul Rahman, a Muslim youth, in Bantwal near Mangaluru sparked widespread outrage across Dakshina Kannada. The incident also drew sharp criticism from Muslim leaders within the Congress party, prompting the government to intensify its efforts to curb communal tensions in the coastal region.

While a special force has already been established to address communal violence, the government has now carried out a major administrative reshuffle. Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Anupam Agarwal and Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police (SP) Yathish N. have both been transferred.

Sudhir Kumar Reddy, a 2010-batch IPS officer currently serving as DIG in the Intelligence Department, has been appointed the new Police Commissioner of Mangaluru. Dr. Arun K., a 2014-batch IPS officer and the current SP of Udupi, will now take charge as the SP of Dakshina Kannada.

Former Commissioner Anupam Agarwal has been posted as DIG, Economic Offences (CID), while SP Yathish N. has not yet been assigned a new posting.

Notably, Sudhir Kumar Reddy hails from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and previously served as SP of Dakshina Kannada during 2017–18.