Moments before the much-anticipated session of the Punjab Assembly to elect a new chief minister commenced on Friday, the government appointed a new provincial police chief.

According to Establishment Division notifications, copies of which are available with Dawn.com, Rao Sardar Ali Khan has been replaced with Faisal Shahkar.

The outgoing inspector general has been transferred and posted as the Pakistan Railways inspector general with immediate effect until further orders.

Separately, Shahkar, previously serving as the Railways inspector general has now been transferred and posted as the provincial police chief with immediate effect until further orders.

The newly-appointed police chief is a grade-22 officer and belonged to the sixteenth common. He joined the Pakistan Police Service as the additional superintendent in 1988 and served as the additional inspector general at the Special Branch for almost three years.

Shahkar has also served in the United Nations’ special missions in Bosnia and Liberia among other countries.