Police bureaucracy witnessed on Wednesday the advent of three heavyweight police officials that included Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Zulifqar Cheema, a blue eyed cop of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Sources in the IG office said that three police officials had been transferred and posted on senior positions. Additional Inspector General (AIG) Kalb-e-Abbas was transferred and posted as AIG (Investigations), Punjab. AIG Aslam Tareen, who has been recently promoted, was transferred and posted as AIG (Welfare and Finance). DIG Zulifqar Cheema has been transferred and posted as AIG Elite Force.
Sources told that AIG Kalb-e-Abbas and Aslam Tareen were transferred and posted on two key posts because AIG Azam Joyia had retired from police and left the post of AIG (Investigations) vacant, while AIG Aftab Sultan who had been posted as the director general of Intelligence Bureau (IB) left behind the seat of AIG (Welfare and Finance).
The postings of Abbas and Tareen were not a big surprise for the policemen. However, many officials were surprised with Cheema’s appointment, as he had lost the blessings of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership after refusing to use his influence to support the party’s candidate in Gujranwala by-elections. The PML-N candidate lost badly despite relentless efforts by the party. After the elections, Cheema was removed from the post of Gujranwal regional police officer (RPO). Subsequently, rumours arose that Cheema had joined the federal government’s camp after his removal. Therefore his return to Lahore is quite surprising for many.
Police sources said that despite serious efforts, the Punjab government was finding it hard to curb increasing crime and improve security situation in the province. According to them, it was likely that the government wanted to revamp the Elite Force to control crime in the province. Sources said that Cheema had tried hard to get the post of Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), Lahore before DIG Ahmed Raza Tahir had taken charge as the CCPO. They said that after AIG Aftab Sultan’s posting as IB director general, Cheema even tried to get the post of AIG Welfare and Finance, which was given to Aslam Tareen, who enjoys good reputation in police circles and has close relations with the PML-N leadership.
