Federal Govt appoints Faisal Shahkar as new IGP Punjab moments before CM elections

ISLAMABAD, July 22 (SABAH): Moments before the much-anticipated session of Punjab Assembly to elect a new chief minister commenced on Friday, the government appointed a new provincial police chief.

According to notifications of Establishment Division, Rao Sardar Ali Khan has been replaced with Faisal Shahkar.

The outgoing inspector general has been transferred and posted as the Pakistan Railways inspector general with immediate effect until further orders.

Separately, Shahkar, previously serving as the Railways inspector general has now been transferred and posted as the provincial police chief with immediate effect until further orders.

The newly-appointed police chief is a grade-22 officer and belongs to the sixteenth common. He joined Pakistan Police Service as the additional superintendent in 1988 and served as the additional inspector general at the Special Branch for almost three years.

Shahkar has also served in the United Nations’ special missions in Bosnia and Liberia among other countries.

Earlier on Friday, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi approached the Supreme Court against the deployment of IGP in the house during the CM elections. He moved the court against the deputy speaker’s letter to the IGP and chief secretary regarding the deployment of security forces within the house as well as within precincts of the assembly.

In his petition, Elahi claimed that Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari intends to interfere in the election process and that his letter to deploy security in the Punjab Assembly shows ill intentions. He maintained that the IG Punjab should be stopped from entering the provincial assembly.

It is noteworthy here that Hamza Shehbaz after taking the reins of the province earlier in April this year had appointed and transferred all RPOs and 32 DPOs of his choice.