Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered the Establishment Division to take action against Additional IGP Hyderabad region Dr Jamil Ahmed for "financial and moral corruption, misuse of authority and undesirable activities", it emerged on Monday.

In a letter to the establishment secretary dated May 5, the prime minister's secretary, Mohammad Azam Khan, wrote that according to an information report presented to the premier, Ahmed was allegedly collecting Rs1.5 to Rs2 million per month from each of the 15 districts he headed.

The letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, also stated that the AIG "takes [a] share on posting of under command police officials".

Besides this, the AIG has also "illegally occupied three rooms at Circuit House, Hyderabad [...] his two sons are misusing their father's position and carrying out firing practice at Circuit House which is located in a populated area".

Citing examples of the official's "corruption", the prime minister asked the Establishment Division to formally proceed against him under Rule 18(2) of the Civil Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) Rules, 2020.

The AIG could not be reached for comment.

'Misuse of authority'

The AIG had been in the limelight earlier this year after the province's top police official had revoked his order regarding the formation of a crime control cell, allegedly staffed by dubious officials.

In April, Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mushtaq Mahar had struck down Ahmed's official order regarding the formation of a 'regional crime control cell', referred to as "R3C", and said the cell had been "maliciously created in contravention of rules and directions issued time and again" by the IGP's office.

Information gathered by Dawn from Hyderabad and Karachi police officers had revealed that a couple of individuals associated with the AIG office and R3C in one way or the other had dubious backgrounds. They were either retired officers or dismissed from service.

"All these men are involved in smuggling of maava (tobacco mixed mild drug), betel nut, cigarettes, Indian gutka that reach Sindh through Balochistan from Iran where it reaches from India," said a source.

They were operating what they referred to as "line" in their parlance in the region to ensure the delivery of goods to traders in Karachi and Hyderabad. Iranian oil also passed through this "line", said the source.

Also in April, the AIG's sons had subjected lower-ranking employees of the local circuit house to humiliation as they tied them to a tree to "teach them a lesson".

Sajjan Khaskheli, general secretary of the provincial works and services union, had shared with Dawn that the AIG's sons are "very unruly and arrogant and they humiliate the staff every now and then". They did not even spare policemen, he had added.

The AIG has been staying at a suite in the circuit house which was meant for the Sindh chief minister since Aug 28 last year but he has not paid anything as rent, an administration official had told Dawn.