PM appoints Akhtar Gorchani as DG IB

LAHORE: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf appointed Sardar Akhtar Hassan Khan Gorchani as the new Director General (DG) of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on Thursday.

The move follows a recent shuffle at the highest levels of the federal bureaucracy after the transfers of the principal secretary, key federal secretaries and Federal Investigation director general were ordered by the prime minister. These changes reflect Prime Minister Ashraf’s desire to put in place his own team rather than continue legacy appointments under former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

Sardar Akhtar, who is a BPS-21 grade officer in the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), was additional inspector general and serving as the capital city police officer (CCPO) Karachi before his appointment.

He will be replacing Aftab Sultan, a BPS-22 grade officer, according to a notification issued by the Establishment Division. Sultan, considered an upright and honest officer who made a reputation by refusing to be part of former president Pervez Musharraf’s referendum as regional police officer Sargodha, has been made Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and directed to report to the establishment division for further orders.

The new DG IB belongs to a political family from Rajanpur and his son, Sardar Athar Hassan Khan Gorchani, is a sitting MPA from PP-248 (Rajanpur-II) who joined the Pakistan Peoples Party after being elected to the Punjab Assembly in the 2008 elections. Sources told The Express Tribune that Sardar Akhtar’s recent posting as DG IB is viewed as a reward for party loyalty.

The decision to replace Sultan had been taken by the federal government on July 4.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2012.

e that the National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC) and other departments concerned wilfully colluded with chronic defaulters to steal electricity.

 

Meanwhile, Water and Power Minister Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar has vowed to monitor these pilferages to bring line losses to an acceptable level, besides pledging to recover the defaulted payments. He appears determined to plug in loopholes in the power sector to overcome load shedding.

“I am working on the energy crisis on a day-to-day basis and putting in every possible effort to overcome load shedding to give relief to the people. I will also make sure that the NTDC recovers every penny from the defaulters,” Mukhtar said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2012.