The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday removed Rajan Mittal from the post of managing director of the UP State Bridge Corporation two days after an under-construction flyover collapsed in Varanasi killing 18 people.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya, who is also the minister for Public Works Department, tweeted that JK Srivastav, who is a chief engineer (for externally-aided projects) in the department, will replace Mittal as the managing director of the corporation.

A day after the incident, the Uttar Pradesh Police said they had sent five warning letters about safety violations to the corporation. Mittal said the corporation had requested local authorities, including the district administration, police and commissioner to regulate traffic in that area during the construction. “There was pressure to meet the deadline but no compromise was made on quality and it would be clear during the inquiry,” Mittal had said.

Following the incident, Chief Minister Adityanath had announced a high-level investigation into the matter. The state had also suspended four officials, including the project manager, after the under-construction structure collapsed.