Fourth police chief changed in KP in one-and-a-half years

PESHAWAR: The inspector general of police (IGP), KP was changed for the fourth time in the last one and a half year as Sanaullah Abbasi was named the new chief of the force on Wednesday. According to a notification issued on Wednesday, Sanaullah Abbasi, an officer of grade-21, was named the new IGP KP. He was serving as IGP Gilgit-Baltistan until recently.

He replaced Dr Mohammad Naeem Khan, a grade-22 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan. Not a single IGP has completed his tenure of three years in the last many years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab where police chiefs were changed frequently in the last one and half year.

The outgoing IGP Naeem Khan was posted to head the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police in February 2019 in place of Salahuddin Khan Mehsud. Salahuddin Mehsud served as IGP KP for hardly five months. He was posted IG KP for the second term in September 2018 and was replaced in February 2019.

Salahuddin Mehsud had replaced Mohammad Tahir, who remained IGP of KP for hardly three months before he was made IGP Punjab. A source said the top government functionaries and some senior bureaucrats were not happy with the stance of Salahuddin Mehsud on introducing the police system in the merged districts of Fata. The source said he wanted a police system in the erstwhile Fata similar to the rest of the country and not any new version of Levies and Khassadars under the command of the deputy commissioners. Mehsud was then posted as IGP in Azad Kashmir replacing Dr Naeem who was made the police chief in KP in February last year.

There were several occasions in the last 10 months that reports started circulating on social media and also in the mainstream media that IGP KP Dr Naeemwas being replaced. On Wednesday when Sanaullah Abbasi was named the police chief for KP, which is facing more challenges related to law and order than any other province. Reports said the decision about bringing a new police chief for KP was made during the latest visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Peshawar recently when top government functionaries expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of Dr Naeem.

The province, particularly the merged districts, has remained the prime target of terrorists. Some incidents were also reported in parts of the province recently. This is going to be one of the main challenges for the new IGP.

Besides, policing in the erstwhile Fata is still facing many issues due to the wrangling between different government departments and various cadres of employees. It remains to be seen if the new IGP completes the process of introducing fully the police system in the merged districts or he, too, is going to face resistance like his two predecessors.