LAHORE: A grade 21 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan was demoted from the position of inspector general (IG) motorway police and placed as a “officer on special duty,” a euphemism used by the bureaucracy to describe officials who have been “punished” by superiors, seemingly as retaliation for defying two influential federal ministers.
A day earlier, the federal government selected Rifat Mukhtar, an additional secretary in the Home Department, to replace Salman Chaudhry, the former IG of the National Highways & Motorways Police (NH&MP), who was instructed to report to the Establishment Division till further orders.
Dawn was informed by people with knowledge of the situation, however, that Mr. Chaudhry had been fired for opposing a plan to transfer administrative control of NH&MP from the Ministry of Communications to the Ministry of Interior.
The minister in charge of the communications ministry is also alleged to have been outraged by the officer’s actions regarding force recruitment.
Dawn called and sent written requests for response to both Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, but neither of them answered.
On January 10, 2024, Mr. Chaudhry, a relative of the current Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, took over as NH&MP IG.
According to an official with knowledge of the situation, the disagreement between him and Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan stemmed from the matter of hiring people for different positions. According to the source, Mr. Chaudhry was regarded as an honest officer in police circles and is one of the few senior police officers who has held prominent posts in all four provinces.
He made it through two previous transfers. But he was unable to live a third time.
The suggestion to move administrative responsibility of the NH&MP from the Ministry of Communications to the Ministry of Interior is allegedly what caused the animosity that ultimately resulted in his dismissal.
According to the person, Mr. Chaudhry had opposed the plan, which was made at a recent high-level meeting in Islamabad that was presided over by Defense Minister Khawaja Asif. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Chaudhry, Federal Minister for the Interior Mohsin Naqvi, and other top officials.
According to sources, Mr. Naqvi supported the suggestion and anticipated that no department employee would object.
To his astonishment, Mr. Chaudhry disagreed with the proposal, claiming that the NH&MP had established a unique position in the nation by enforcing the highest levels of professionalism and maintaining administrative control under the Ministry of Communications.
He maintained that the department’s current stature may be jeopardized if administrative responsibility were transferred to the Ministry of Interior.
According to sources who spoke to Dawn, Khawaja Asif seemed to agree with Mr. Chaudhry’s position and the plan to transfer administrative responsibility of NHMP to the Ministry of Communications.
Salman Chaudhry, the NH&MP IG, was transferred as a result of disagreements with two federal ministries.
According to sources, Mr. Chaudhry was told by his superiors that, as a courtesy, he would be relieved of his duties in mid-February 2025, allowing him to finish a year in his current role.
But the seasoned policeman was likewise taken aback by his early transfer orders.
Within the bureaucracy, there is an unspoken understanding that a transfer of an officer after a year at his position is regarded as normal.
But since Mr. Chaudhry has been “directed to report to the Establishment Division” and has been given no more charges, it appears that his transfer orders were issued out of rage.
