PESHAWAR: Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, additional inspector general of police headquarters, assumed charge as acting police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.

A notification issued here said that Nasir Khan Durrani on attaining the age of superannuation on March 16, 2017 relinquished the charge of inspector general of police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It said that therefore under Section 15(2) of the KP Police Act 2017 Akhtar Ali Shah was assuming charge of the office of provincial police officer till proper posting of the police chief.

Earlier on Thursday, Nasir Khan Durrani who led the KP police for about three and half years, retired on attaining the age of superannuation. The KP government so far has not announced his replacement. However, three senior police officers serving in the province, including commandant Frontier Constabulary Liaquat Ali Khan, AIG headquarters Akhtar Ali Shah and AIG Special Branch Salahuuddin Mehsud, are said to be among the candidates for the post.

Liaquat Ali is the senior-most police officer serving in the province. Mr Mehsud though relatively junior is being considered as strong contender in the race by many.

Section 15 of the KP Police Act 2017 says that that provincial government shall out of a panel of three officers recommended by the National Public Safety Commission (NPSC) from a list provided by the federal government, post a police officer of the rank of IGP as PPO.

However, the law further notes that when the NPSC is not constituted, the federal government shall provide complete list of BS-21 and above officers for appointment of one of them as provincial police officer. KP government spokesperson Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2017