PESHAWAR, March 9: Commandant Frontier Constabulary (FC) Malik Mohammad Naveed is the frontrunner in the race to become the new NWFP police chief, credible sources say.

It is learnt that Malik Naveed, a PSP officer, is almost certain to replace Sharif Virk, the incumbent provincial police chief, who is retiring this week.

Naveed, who has held senior field positions as police officer in the NWFP, has received a nod from the new political leadership in the province.

It is also understood that Governor NWFP Owais Ahmad Ghani who had met President Musharraf last month to discuss among other things, the appointment of a new police chief, also threw his weight behind Malik Naveed.

In fact, these sources say, there were only two choices for the top police job in the NWFP, Malik Muhammad Naveed and Fayaz Ahmad Toru, presently heading the investigation wing in the police department.

The other names doing the round and surfacing in a section of the media had little or no chance of making it to the top position, the sources said.

“Their names were never under consideration,” the sources said.

Significantly enough, if appointed, the federal government is also considering giving the new provincial police chief the additional job of commandant Frontier Constabulary to create a sort of a unity of command to allow him greater space and freedom to mix the two forces to his advantage to combat growing militancy in the region.

The move, they said, was aimed at giving him powers to move around the two forces wherever he deemed fit and avoid bureaucratic rigmarole and red-tapism.

A leading figure of the ANP, a senior partner in the coalition government in the NWFP, confirmed the party was consulted by the federal government on its choice to nominate Naveed and that it gave its consent to the proposal.

He also confirmed that the federal government’s proposal to allow Naveed to wear two hats in the given circumstances.

If this happens, it will be the first time a police chief in the NWFP would also be heading the constabulary that is essentially mandated to man the boundaries between the settled districts and the adjoining tribal areas.

The sanctioned strength of the NWFP as of 2007 was 47,832 including constables and senior officers, while Frontier Constabulary has a total force of 22,000.

“They will be complimenting each other”, the sources said, denying that the decision to create unity of command between the two forces would have any adverse affect on one or the other force.

Asked whether this major decision would have any legal sanction, the sources said that the federal government would through a notification not only announce the posting of the new police chief and it would also in the same notification allow for granting additional charge of the Frontier Constabulary to him.

A formal announcement is expected in the next couple of days, the sources said.