India's top virologist Shahid Jameel has resigned from a forum of scientific advisers set up by the government to detect variants of the coronavirus.
The resignation came weeks after Dr Jameel questioned the govt's handling of the pandemic. Dr Jameel was the chief of the scientific advisory group known as INSACOG.
He has declined to to give a reason for his resignation, reports said.
News agency Reuters had reported earlier this month that INSACOG had warned government officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country. The variant, B.1.617, is behind the deadly second Covid wave in the country.
Asked why the government did not respond more forcefully to the findings, Dr Jameel had told Reuters that he was concerned that authorities were not paying enough attention to the evidence as they set policy.