Fayyaz Leghari reappointed chief of Sindh police
A PSP officer of BPS-21, he was appointed to the position on Tuesday.
For the new head of the Sindh police, the job isn’t an unfamiliar one. Fayyaz Leghari had to leave his job last summer after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered his removal in connection with the infamous extrajudicial killing of Sarfraz Shah. While he landed a position as the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Leghari has gone back to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) office.
A PSP officer of BPS-21, he was appointed to the position on Tuesday.
On his agenda is the betterment of the Sindh police and citizens. He has a lot more time to achieve this too, since he is due to retire in May 2015.
A senior officer, he was recruited on March 29, 1979 and was first posted as ASP Headquarters Karachi in 1981.
He has held a slew of high-profile positions, including as DIG Traffic, DIG Operations and Investigation Karachi, the SSP of Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas and DIG Special Branch (Sindh).
In September 2010, Leghari replaced Waseem Ahmed as the Capital City Police Officer, since the latter was appointed to head the FIA. In March 2011, Leghari became the IGP Sindh.
In his previous tenure, the city’s crime statistics were replete with political, ethnic and sectarian target killings. Several other major events took place, including the attack on the PNS Mehran base, the assassination of a Saudi diplomat and a bombing at a gambling den in Lyari’s Ghas Mandi.
But it was Sarfaraz Shah’s extrajudicial killing that proved to be Leghari’s undoing. The SC took suo motu notice and ordered the removal of Leghari and Director General Pakistan Rangers Sindh Brigadier Ejaz Chaudhry. While the Chaudhry was later reinstated, Leghari was not. He was made an Officer on Special Duty.
Leghari’s predecessor, Mushtaq Shah, retired last weekend. While Leghari has officially been made the IGP and has left his position at the FIA, he was still in Islamabad meeting with officials from the FIA and the government.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2012.