LAHORE: Ending the uncertainty with regard to the appointment of new head of Punjab police, the federal government late on Wednesday posted Muhammad Amir Zulfiqar Khan as provincial police chief.

The federal government has issued the notification for appointment of Mr Zulfiqar as Punjab inspector general of police, who was deputy director general of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF). He has previously held the posts of National Highways & Motorway Police IG, Islamabad police IG and Additional IG Operations, CPO Punjab, Lahore.

Mr Zulfiqar, as an assistant superintendent of police (ASP), won both top police honours -- the Quaid-e-Azam Police Medal and the Pakistan Police Medal. He belongs to Lahore and joined the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) in 1991 and belonged to 19th Common.

He also served as Toba Tek Singh SSP, Special Branch Punjab SSP and Special Branch Lahore Region SSP, besides serving as Lahore DIG operations, Multan regional police officer (RPO), CTD Punjab DIG. He has served in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal government.Earlier, a summary of seven police officers was forwarded to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for considering one of the officers for the Punjab IGP slot.

The BS-22 police officers who made a ‘late entry’ in the race for the Punjab’s top police slot are AD Khwaja, Rao Musthaq Ahmed Mehr, Rao Sardar Ali Khan and Ali Aamir Malik.The Punjab government had recommended the names of Fayyaz Ahmad Dev, Amir Zulfiqar and Ghulam Mahmood Dogar, all BS-21 officers for the Punjab IGP post.

An official privy to the process says the posting of regular IGP in Punjab was delayed because of the persisting political crisis in the province.

He says that earlier the PML-N had almost agreed on the name of former Lahore capital city police officer (CCPO) Fayyaz Ahmad Dev for the Punjab IGP slot as PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who recently joined hands with the Shehbaz-led federal government, favoured the officer. Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi had also not objected to Dev’s posting, he adds.

The official says that when the appointment of Mr Dev was about to be made, suddenly the political situation in the province became volatile in the aftermath of the PTI’s announcement to dissolve the Punjab Assembly.

Meanwhile, he says, some of the BS-22 police officers also geared up their efforts, using their political connections, to be considered for the Punjab police’s top slot.

Consequently, the PML-N government halted the process and added the names of four senior police officers to the summary to the premier.

The official source says the issue of appointment of regular IGP in Punjab has been in the limelight since the PTI came into power in the Centre and frequently changed provincial police chiefs during its more than three-year long tenure.

The crisis further deepened when another provincial police chief, Faisal Shahkar, refused to serve in Punjab in the wake of the political tussle between the PML-N and the PTI-PMLQ governments in the Centre and Punjab, respectively. Mr Shahkar had sent a written request to the Establishment Division to transfer him to the federal government, saying he was unable to perform his duties in Punjab due to “personal reasons”.

However, the federal government asked him to retain his posting till the appointment of new provincial police chief.

On Tuesday last, Mr Shahkar relinquished his charge as Punjab IGP, as he has to leave Pakistan for the United Nation where he has been selected for the top police slot.

The Punjab government had on Wednesday appointed BS-21 police officer Ghulam Rasool Zahid, an officer of 19th Common, as acting police chief of the province.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2022