New Punjab IGP takes charge of office

The newly-appointed Punjab inspector general of police (IGP), Haji Mohammad Habibur Rehman, assumed charge of his office on Friday after former IGP Javed Iqbal was shown the door by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government for purportedly not acting in accordance with its wishes.
Iqbal has now been appointed the director general of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Prior to his appointment as the inspector general of Punjab Police, Rehman was serving in the Punjab Constabulary as the additional IG. His name had been discussed before the appointment of Iqbal as the Punjab IGP, as he was one of the key players who had chances to be appointed to the post.
Iqbal himself was once a blue-eyed official of the Punjab chief minister, but a few months after his appointment, he had refused to act in accordance with the policies of the PML-N.
Well-placed sources said Iqbal was asked to sign a summary for putting Punjab Police under the Home Ministry, but he had refused to act accordingly and that had fuelled differences between him and the PML-N.
The sources said the appointment of Rehman could be part of PML-N’s plan to get police’s help in the coming general election.
Rehman was born in Sialkot in 1953. He got his primary education from Sialkot and Faisalabad and after getting his Masters degree in Economics, he decided to join the Punjab Police in 1977 as an ASP. He served as SDPO in Rahim Yar Khan, Toba Tek Singh and Pakpattan.
After being promoted as an SP in 1983, Rehman served in Toba Tek Singh, Sahiwal, Rahim Yar Khan and Faisalabad Traffic Highway.
In 1993, he was promoted as an SSP and served in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
Rehman was appointed the Lahore CCPO in 2009 at the time the president imposed governor’s rule in Punjab. His posting had brought him into bad books of the PML-N leadership, however, matters settled between the two sides and Rehman was later given a role in Punjab after the PML-N leadership appointed him the additional IG of Punjab Constabulary.
Meanwhile, the federal government has given a better role to Javed Iqbal and appointed him the FIA director general, while posting former FIA DG Tehseen Shah as the National Police Bureau (NPB) DG.
Shah would take over the charge from Tahir Arif, who retired on February 12.