Worsening law and order in KP a challenge for interim setup

PESHAWAR: After the KP caretaker cabinet has been sworn in, the search is now on for posting the top police and administration officers who run the machinery under the interim setup which is facing the tough challenge of worsening law and order.

Sources said three senior police officers are being considered by the federal government and others concerned for posting as inspector general of police (IGP).

Normally, the top officers are changed in the provinces before the elections to ensure the holding of free and fair polls under a neutral setup. In a few cases, the incumbent ones continued the job when no one questioned their neutrality.

The top officers have already been replaced in Punjab after the dissolution of the assembly. After Punjab, now the search is on for the senior officers for the top slots in KP.

Unlike Punjab, there are more challenges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially due to the deteriorating law and order situation.

Police are being attacked almost daily in different districts of KP. Over 120 policemen were martyred in attacks during the last year. The first month of the current year witnessed a further increase in these attacks.

Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan chaired a meeting in this regard a couple of days back and hinted at taking up the key issues with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

There were reports on social media that many of the ministers inducted into the KP interim cabinet have no relevant experience and were made ministers only to oblige them.

Many people are worried that things in the province may worsen if the caretaker setup could not perform well till the holding of the elections.

Much depends on the offices of the chief secretary as well as the IGP in the caretaker setup and that is why competent and experienced honest officers are being considered for posting against the two slots.

The sources said one of the officers being considered for posting as IGP has already served in the province against the top slots while two others have remained in KP for a long time. They are considered upright officers and have a clear idea of the law and order situation in the province.

“Since the law and order situation is not ideal and there are so several challenges, some officers are reluctant to assume the charge only for three months as nothing can be improved during this short tenure,” said a source.

It was learnt that a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday evening discussed the names for appointment against the two top slots in KP a notification was likely to be issued soon for that.