Punjab gets new chief secretary, IGP relinquishes charge amid political imbroglio
Pakistan
Punjab finally has new chief secretary; IGP relinquishes charge
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – In a major development, the Establishment Division has appointed Abdullah Sumbal as the Punjab chief secretary in place of Kamran Ali Afzal.
A notification to the effect has been issued by the Establishment Division.
Also, Punjab IGP Faisal Shahkar is learnt to have relinquished the charge and submitted a report to the provincial secretary services, Punjab.
A crisis emerged in Punjab a few months ago when Mr Afzal refused to work and demanded that he be transferred to some other post. Later, he applied for leave a couple of times during which Mr Sumbal was given the additional charge. Mr Sumbal has now been given the charge.
Former chief secretary Afzal had gone on a two-week leave “in protest” on Sept 17 last after his requests for the withdrawal of his services from Punjab were ignored by the PML-N-led federal government.
There were slight differences between Chief Minister Parvez Elahi and IGP Faisal Shahkar over transfers and postings. After the IGP s decision, the provincial government has yet to assign the charge of the top police office to any senior police officer. Mr Shahkar is on leave for joining a special assignment at the United Nations. He was not attending the office for the last two weeks.
