FIA DG, KP police chief removed from posts

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The federal government has removed Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Ahmad Ishaque Jehangir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General (IG) of Police Akhtar Hayat from their posts. 

Jahangir has been reassigned as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Establishment Division.

The sources revealed that the failure of several FIA officials and other authorities concerned in stopping the cases of human trafficking led to his dismissal.

"With the approval of the Federal Government, Mr Ahmad Ishaque Jehangir, a BS-21 Officer of [the] Police Service of Pakistan, presently serving as Director General, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), under [the] Interior Division, is transferred and posted as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Establishment Division, with immediate effect and until further orders," a notification read.

The reshuffle reportedly comes in the wake on ongoing controversy of the human smuggling from Pakistan as more and more cases of illegal migration and migrant boat tragedies have become alarmingly frequent.

Sources said that Jehangir's removal was approved by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reportedly for slow pace of investigations in the boat capsizing incidents and large scale illegal migration.

They further stated that the Ministry of Interior will send a summary to the Cabinet Division for the appointment of new FIA chief, while the Establishment Division has started the shortlisting for the new appointee.

Insiders said that the former FIA DG had sacked some agency officials allegedly involved in the Greek boat tragedy yesterday. 

A boat carrying migrants, which included 66 Pakistanis, capsised off Moroccan coast, killing at least 50 people earlier this month.

The ill-fated boat departed from Mauritania on January 2 with 86 migrants on board. Moroccan authorities reported that 66 of the passengers were Pakistani nationals and noted that it had rescued 36 people after the accident.

At least 80 Pakistanis lost their lives when boats carrying them capsized near Greece on the night of December 13-14, 2024.

One of the deadliest incidents, however, remains the Greek boat tragedy, where a fishing trawler crammed with migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Greece, killing hundreds, including 262 Pakistanis, in 2023.

Meanwhile, sources said that the government issued a notification removing IG KP Akhtar Hayat due to his failure to maintain law and order in the province over an extended period.

Violence in Kurram has also brought the KP government under severe criticism as well as law enforcers. The centre has also time and again censured the provincial government for using state machinery to march on to Islamabad.

Zulfiqar Hameed has been appointed as the new IG KP.

It is also worth noting that Hayat had instructed all police officers in November 2024 to refrain from participating in any political activities amid Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protests.