The Bengal health department on Thursday morning transferred the medical superintendent and viceprincipal of Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, Debdas Saha, to a professorial post at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri.

The move came less than a day after Saha had passed an order instructing doctors in his hospital not to state Covid19 as the cause of death for patients who had been admitted for coronavirus.

The order, which was photographed by sources and circulated widely on social media, had kicked up a political storm on Wednesday with Opposition leaders lambasting the Trinamul government’s alleged coverup of the Covid19 crisis in the state.

“Saha is merely being made a scapegoat by the state government. The penalty for this coverup should be paid by the actual leaders and policy makers in Bengal,” Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury said over the phone from Delhi on Thursday.

Saha will be replaced by Sarmila Mullik, who was previously the dean of medicine at the Murshidabad medical college.

When chief secretary Rajiva Sinha was asked about the transfer at Nabanna, he said the question should be put to the health department.

“Transfer orders are not issued at the chief secretary level. You should put this question to the health department,” Sinha said.

Late on Wednesday, several BJP leaders, including Dilip Ghosh, Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta and Union minister of state Babul Supriyo had tweeted a photograph of the order and lambasted the Trinamul government’s ostensible attempts at a coverup of the medical crisis in the state.