Change of command: Sindh police chief removed from office

Mehmood had left charge of IGP and had not attended office for five days.

KARACHI: Sindh police chief Iqbal Mehmood has been relieved from his duties after a three-month stint. Ghulam Haider Jamali, Anti-Corruption chairman and a former Sindh additional IG, has been appointed as acting IGP of the province, The Express Tribune learnt on Monday.

Mehmood assumed the charge of new IGP Sindh in the first week of April 2014.

Federal government issued the notification of Mehmood’s removal. However, Sindh chief secretary directed Mehmood to report to the Establishment Division Islamabad.

Sources revealed that Mehmood had left the charge of the IGP Sindh of his own volition and was not attending office over the last five days. There was a rift between the former IGP and some officials of the Sindh government because of the procurement of armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for the Sindh police.

“What the Sindh government basically wanted was to get commission from the procurement deal of the APCs. They simply wanted the IG to sign the procurement papers,” a source privy to the matter revealed.

Iqbal Mehmood resisted the attempt because he realised he would be blamed for any defects in the equipment at a later stage. He wanted to constitute a panel comprising ministers of the Sindh government, home department and the police department and avoid being pressured into signing procurement papers for APCs.

Another reason for the removal of Iqbal Mehmood is the fact that he transferred several officers of the SP and SSP cadre and brought in replacements on the basis of merit, said the officer.

Moreover, the chief minister had removed the powers to transfer officers of SP and SSP rank from the IG and given them to the provincial chief secretary.

The Sindh IG could now only transfer and post officers of the DSP rank.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2014.