India, Jan. 25 -- Senior IAS officer Krishna Karunesh has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Noida Authority, replacing Lokesh M, who was removed from the post days after a techie drowned in Noida. Karunesh, a 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, took charge days after a controversy erupted following the death of a 27-year-old software engineer, Yuvraj Mehta, in Sector 150 on the night of January 16, which triggered protests by local residents alleging negligence by developers and the authority.

Following the incident and the subsequent protests, Lokesh M, also an IAS officer, was removed as Noida Authority CEO and placed on the waiting list on January 19. Originally from Bihar, Karunesh (a 2011 batch office...