QUETTA: The Balochistan government on Tuesday appointed a female officer to serve as deputy commissioner of Nasirabad district with an immediate effect replacing the outgoing deputy commissioner Mohammad Hussain.

Engineer Ayesha Zehri assumed her new responsibilities, after a notification was issued by the Services and General Administration regarding her appointment.

It was the first time in the administrative history of Balochistan that a female officer was appointed as deputy commissioner of any district in the province.

Ms Zehri, basically an electrical engineer, was working in the irrigation department. She did her BE in electrical engineering from Khuzdar Engineering University and joined as SDO in Wapda but in 2017 she appeared in provincial services commission exam and joined the provincial services.

During her stint as assistant commissioner of Chagai, Ms Zehri conducted many raids against criminals and drug smugglers in district and arrested a number of suspects after exchange of heavy fire.

She had also seized a huge amount of chemicals, being used in preparation of heroin, after an exchange of fire. However, when she went to the Levies station, they refused to take the custody of the chemical and registered a case in this regard. As she spoke to the press on the matter, a disciplinary action was taken against her and she was transferred and made OSD. She was later promoted and posted as deputy secretary (irrigation). During the rain emergency in Bolan, she helped the flood-stricken passengers stranded between Bibi Nani and Pinjra Bridge.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2022