LAHORE: The Punjab government is going to select 11 retired senior army officers as ‘nucleus staff’ of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Force despite objections by the inspector general of police.

The IG had last recorded his objections to the recruitment of retired army personnel on a contract basis in a meeting held on Wednesday last.

But, sources in the provincial government said on Sunday the process of recruiting the officers was continuing unhindered.

Of the 477 retired army officers who applied for the 11 posts of the new force, approved by the chief minister earlier this month, 230 had been selected for the final interview, a source said.

He said the final interview for the selection was likely to be held on or around January 30.

Police sources said the IG objected to the raising of the force under the home department, arguing this would create legal problems. He reiterated that the new force should be placed under his office for better performance and for avoiding legal complications.

The IG also reportedly objected to the recruitment of retired army officers, saying the posts reserved for them should better be filled by police officers or by hiring experts from private sector.

A Punjab government official said the IG had objected to the recruitment of an army officer as the deputy director (technical). But he was told the post was for a person having expertise in dealing with cyber crime, signals and computer interventions.

He was also informed that only an army officer having a feel for intelligence and counter terrorism operations could best fill the post.

The official said the IG was told that police officers could apply against 33 per cent of the total posts of the new force which were yet to be announced.

The official said there was no chance of cancellation of the recruitment of the retired army officers as this had been approved by the chief minister.

The retired army officers are being recruited on a two-year contract. The posts include one each principal training school (retired brigadier), director operations (retied colonel), additional director intelligence (Lt-Col), additional director special operations (Lt-Col), deputy director technical (Lt Colonel), deputy director operations (major), and four regional directors (Lt-Cols).

The selection will be made by a committee headed by the chief secretary and comprising secretaries of the home and services departments, IGP, Additional IGP of the counter-terrorism department and two experts in the relevant fields.

Meanwhile, all the 2,972 candidates who qualified the written test for 1,000 posts of corporals of the new force took psychological tests on Sunday.

Interviews for final selection are likely to be held by the end of this month.