Major reshuffle in Punjab bureaucracy

LAHORE: In an anticipated major reshuffle, the Punjab government on Wednesday removed three senior bureaucrats including Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Bilal Siddique Kamyana, Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab Director General Abdul Jabbar and Jhang District Police Officer Sardar Ghias Gul Khan.

According to a notification issued by the Services and Genera Administration Department (S&GAD), all three officers were relieved of their duties “with immediate effect” and Kamyana and Jabbar were asked to report to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) while Sardar Ghias was directed to report to the Cabinet Secretariat in Islamabad.

The decision to transfer the officers comes a day after PML-Q senior leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, a key ally of PTI in Punjab, sworn in as Punjab chief minister following the Supreme Court verdict that declared Hamza Shehbaz’s victory in the July 22 run-off election as void.

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The PTI leadership was reportedly annoyed with the Punjab police’s highhandedness in dealing with the party supporters when they participated in the ‘Azadi March’ to the federal capital in May this year, a month after the no-confidence motion that ousted former prime minister Imran Khan.

According to sources, many corruption cases against the PTI leaders, including former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar and Farhat Shahzadi alias Farah Gogi, a close friend of the ex-first lady Bushra Bibi, were lodged as Abdul Jabbar had taken charge as the ACE director general.

Earlier this month, a team of the ACE Punjab probing the alleged money laundering case against Farhat Shahzadi had arrested two suspects belonging to the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022