Punjab asks Centre to replace IG Shahkar

The Punjab government on Tuesday asked the Establishment Division of the federal government to withdraw the services of the province’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) Faisal Shahkar, expressing its displeasure over the ‘mishandling’ of the Wazirabad incident.

The letter from the provincial Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) came just days after Shahkar himself requested the federal government for his transfer from Punjab, apparently to avoid becoming collateral damage in the ongoing fight between the Centre and the provincial government.

The S&GAD informed the federal government that the provincial cabinet in its meeting on November 4, had unanimously shown no confidence in the performance of IGP Shahkar pertaining to security measures, handling of the long march and the incident which took place on November 3 in Wazirabad.

“I am also directed to refer letter, dated 6/11/22 written by the above-said officer addressed to the Establishment Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, regarding withdrawal of his services from the government of Punjab due to personal reasons,” said the letter,

“In view of the above, I am further directed to request that the services of Faisal Shahkar, IG Punjab, may be withdrawn from Punjab police, forthwith.” Muhammad Khan Bhatti, the principal secretary to the Punjab chief minister, has also proposed the names of three officers as replacements for Shahkar.

Bhatti has forwarded the names of Fayyaz Dev, Ghulam Mehmood Dogar and Amir Zuliqar for the post of Punjab IGP. However, federal government sources said that Shahkar had been asked to continue serving as Punjab police chief.

Sources said that willingly or otherwise, Shahkar would have to follow the direct orders from the central government, which would further complicate problems for the Punjab government which had already been facing multiple appointment-related issues created by the federal government.

As per law, the provincial government does not have the authority to remove or appoint the provincial police chief as it was the prerogative of the federal government. It was stated that a federal officer, even cannot go on leave without explicit permission from the Centre.

Read Punjab top cop seeks transfer amid FIR row

A source close to the Punjab police chief said that Shahkar has to leave for the UN shortly, and till then he could not afford to antagonise the federal government that had the authority to deny permission to him from taking the UN assignment.

Shahkar was appointed as the Punjab IGP when the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawa (PML-N) government was at the helm. The current provincial coalition of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) was not comfortable with Shahkar as the Punjab police chief.

However, the shooting incident in Wazirabad, in which PTI Chairman Imran Khan sustained bullet injuries to his leg, turned out to be the last straw. The Punjab police refused to entertain PTI’s application for registration of the first information report (FIR), against the three people named by the party leadership.

Eventually, the FIR was registered on Monday, on the complaint of an area police officer against the shooter caught on that day. But even before the registration of the FIR, Shahkar had requested to the Centre that his services should be withdrawn from Punjab with “immediate effect”.

In a letter to the provincial government, the IG Punjab had said that he could no longer continue to serve in the province, owing to "personal reasons" and had requested that he be placed at the disposal of the federal government.

According to the sources, IGP Shahkar had expressed his reservations over nominating the three persons in the FIR, which ultimately led to the deepening of the rifts between the IG, the Punjab government and the PTI.

Earlier, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi had urged Shahkar to resign from the post, saying that if he “cannot register an FIR about the attack on Imran Khan then he should leave the post”. Even PTI chief Imran Khan had accused the IGP of mishandling the incident and misleading them regarding the case.