Punjab gets sixth top cop in 2 years

By News Desk

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Punjab has seen its sixth police chief in two years, after Shoaib Dastagir was abruptly removed as inspector general of police and replaced by Inam Ghani on Tuesday, allegedly over a row the outgoing police chief had with the Lahore’s Capital City Police officer, Umar Shaikh.

Ghani, a BS-21 officer of Police Service of Pakistan has been appointed as Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab, a notification issued by the federal Cabinet Division said. It said Ghani, has been transferred and posted as the Provincial Police Officer (PPO) “with immediate effect”.

Dastagir, a BS-22 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan, has been posted as Secretary of the Narcotics Control Division with immediate effect, the notification added.

The development comes after Prime Minister Imran Khan, in consultation with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar approved Dastagir’s removal from the post, Geo News reported, quoting sources. The Lahore Capital City Police Officer, Umar Shaikh, will continue in his role.

Commenting on the decision, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill said the changes in Punjab police administration were aimed to bring “real change” in the province’s police culture. He said exercising discretionary powers by the government to change the Punjab police chief was in the backdrop of its dissatisfaction with the performance of the outgoing IG Punjab in introducing the government’s agenda of making police department “people friendly”.

Speaking to a private news channel, Gill said Dastagir was given full control by the government to exercise his powers fearlessly in accordance with the law, “but he could not deliver”.

He said the government was following the “policy of change against self-centred policies of favouritism” by the previous governments and the change in the top police administration of Punjab was made in the broader perspective for the people’s welfare.

The PM’s aide also said the matter should be viewed from the perspective of the government policy rather than an individual’s interest and working with discipline is the main code of conduct for the personnel of all uniformed forces.