LAHORE: The Punjab government on Tuesday, in a surprise move, removed the incumbent Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Shoaib Dastgir from his post.
The move comes after Dastgir refused to work under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government over the recent appointment of Umar Sheikh as the provincial capital’s city police officer (CCPO) without consulting his office.
Despite a meeting with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar a day earlier, the provincial top cop remained absent from his office, leaving his subordinates indisposed.
Dastgir had claimed that he was not consulted when the decision to appoint the CCPO was taken. “If Lahore CCPO Omar Sheikh is not removed, I will not serve as IG Punjab,” IGP Dastagir said.
The provincial government, soon after Dastgir’s removal, announced that Inam Ghani would be taking charge of Punjab’s police. Ghani was previously serving as Additional IG South Punjab.
Before that, Ghani has also served as additional IG operations Punjab. Before his transfer to the province, he served a significant amount of time in K-P’s CTD.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed Chief Minister Buzdar to bring reforms in the provincial police department.
The premier has clarified that no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands. Strict action will be taken against those involved in criminal activities, he maintained.
PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb had earlier demanded that the prime minister and the provincial chief minister resign and added that the “bureaucracy had lost their trust in the two”.
“IG Punjab’s refusal to work with the chief minister is telling proof of the failure of the prime minister’s governance,” Marriyum claimed.
The PML-N spokesperson said IG Punjab’s statement that ‘there are issues of misconduct’ is a matter of great concern.
“This is proof that the rulers are using the institutions for politics,” she said, “For two years now, we have been warning and pointing out that the institutions are being interfered with.”