Top cop faces chopping block

Former Frontier Constabulary chief faces charges of illegally appointing over 700 persons during his tenure.

PESHAWAR: An accountability court (AC) on Monday framed charges against former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Police chief Malik Naveed Khan and two others in a reference relating to illegal appointments in the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC). Malik Naveed Khan faces charges of illegally appointing over 700 persons in the FC during his tenure as FC chief in 2007.

On Monday the Accountability Court presided over by Afsar Shah framed charges against the former K-P police chief and two other accused - PSO-I Ghaniur Rahman Wazir and ATO Hamid Hassan in a reference related to illegal appointments. The court directed 12 official witnesses to appear in court on February 14, the date for the next hearing.

The court also declared former FC Charsadda District Officer (DO) Muhammad Shoaib as an absconder in the case. Shoaib is presently deputed at a UN mission abroad.

The official witnesses included National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Inquiry Officer Mehmood Alam, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mian Mizajullah, FC Senior Clerk Haider Shah, NAB Investigation Officer Mohammad Gul and others.

Malik Naveed Khan and two other accused - PSO-I Ghaniur Rahman Wazir and ATO Hamid Hassan - appeared before the court amid tight security as a large police contingent was deployed at different points in the Judicial Complex where the accountability courts
are situated.

Malik Naveed has contradicted the contents of the reference filed against him, stating that he had never overstepped his authority and was ready to face the court.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2011.