Red FM COO Abraham Thomas, one of the hottest radio executives in the country, is stepping down, he said in a memo to staffers yesterday. A person who has seen the memo confirmed the development. Thomas was unavailable for comment.

Thomas has been with Red FM since March 2005 and helped grow it into the top rated station in Mumbai, the country’s largest radio market in terms of ad revenues. Prior to Red FM, he has worked at The Indian Express, Set Max and MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA). E4M first reported his departure.

Red FM is owned by Sun TV Networks promoter Kalanidhi Maran and operates in 42 cities.