CCPO in pole position to take over as police chief

Punjab govt has also requested the services of Islamabad IGP to head Punjab police

LAHORE: The rumour mill has gone into overdrive over the appointment of the new Punjab police chief with the current officer occupying the post, Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera, set to retire in the coming weeks.

Four officers are in the running for the soon-to-be-vacant slot for the Inspector General of Police, according to well-placed sources in the provincial government.



The officers are Lahore CCPO Capt (retd) Amin Wains, Operations Additional IGP Capt (retd) Arif Nawaz, Punjab Special Branch Additional IGP Faisal Shahkar and Islamabad Capital Territory Police chief Tariq Masud Yasin.

The sources insist it will be surprising if anyone other than Amin Wains takes the key police post.

On March 20, 2017, the Punjab government requested the Establishment Division in Islamabad to shift the services of the Islamabad police chief, Tariq Masud Yasin, to the province.

Sources close to the officer revealed that Tariq was willing to shift to Punjab police and requested he be brought into the running for the provincial police chief slot.

According to the rules of the selection of an IGP, the provincial government shall, out of three officers recommended by the National Public Safety Commission and chosen from a list provided by the federal government, post a police officer of IG rank as the provincial police officer.

This is provided that the federal government has placed the candidate’s services at the disposal of the provincial government already.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Islamabad IGP Tahir Masud Yasin said he had heard of the summary being moved by the Punjab government. He said it was up to the federal government to decide whether he would be relieved of his seat to join Punjab police.



Yasin claimed he was out of the loop over this development.

Police sources, however, said the provincial government was most likely to select the incumbent Lahore CCPO as the new IGP. In the event that his name was knocked off from the list provided by the federal government to the NPSC, the three other officers may come into the running.

However with the CCPO’s name on the list, there is little chance of a surprise.

As a result, the seat of the Lahore CCPO will also fall vacant and the government will have to select a suitable officer. With 27,000 officers at his disposal, the Lahore CCPO has the second most influential portfolio in Punjab police, which has a total strength of 182,000.

IGP Mushtaq will retire on April 12 when he reaches the age of superannuation. He took charge as the Punjab police chief on June 14, 2014. He had previously served as SSP Sargodha, Multan, Jhang and Gujranwala. He was also appointed as the Lahore investigation deputy inspector general of police and the additional inspector general at the Counter Terrorism Department.

Brushing aside all speculations, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said it was too early to predict who would assume the charge as the next police chief of the largest province of the country. “The government will select the new IGP on merit and when the time is right,” he said while talking to The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2017.