LAHORE: The federal government has decided to transfer Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar and appoint him as the director general (DG) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), it emerged on Monday.

A highly-placed source confirmed to Dawn that the government has given approval to change the Punjab police high command.

The source said that a summary has been submitted to the prime minister for final approval.

It added that Anwar’s posting as the FIA DG was likely on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, reports suggested that the provincial government has prepared a panel of three candidates for the role of the Punjab police chief.

Lahore Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana, Punjab Counter Terrorism Department Additional Inspector General Wasim Sial and Special Branch Additional Inspector General Rao Abdul Kareem are among those under consideration.

As per reports, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General Zulfiqar Hameed is also in the race.

Dr Anwar was appointed Punjab IG during a large reshuffle by the Punjab caretaker government in January 2023. He was performing his duties with the National Highways and Motorway Police before being appointed Punjab’s police chief.

He was posted at the Punjab Counter Terrorism Department while he served as the Faisalabad senior superintendent of police (operations) and the Rawalpindi chief traffic officer.

Dr Anwar also performed duties in the Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad. He also served as the district police officer in Okara and Sargodha as well as with the Telecommunications and Elite Police.