ISLAMABAD, July 14: In a major reshuffle in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), 44 officers serving in a zone for long have been transferred internally, has leant.

The transferred officers include deputy directors, assistant directors and inspectors, who have been posted in different FIA zones for the last eight to 35 years, sources in the agency said.

They said another major reshuffle was expected in the FIA in which 40 officers working at one station for over three years would be transferred internally. Lists of such officers will be submitted with Director General FIA Tahseen Ali Shah for approval, shortly after his return from abroad.

Sources said the step was taken because of FIA's below satisfactory performance as cases and inquiries were piling up.

It was also noted that some of the officers working in zones for long were reluctant to leave their deployment, using their influence to avoid transfer. Sources said the transfers were to counter officers who had “vested interest in their posting stations”.

Under the government rules, a normal tenure of a posting or station for civil servants is three years.

The FIA wings, including immigration, anti-human trafficking, economic crime, anti-corruption, counter terrorism, and cyber crime, are spread throughout Pakistan. Its officers are supposed to serve in every province to get them acquainted with cultural, territorial and crime patterns prevalent in different areas.

Out of the 44 officers, ten have worked in same zone for the last 35 years. They are: Assistant Directors Saeed Ahmad Wattoo, Mehmood Arif Khokhar in Karachi zone; Assistant Director Ghulam Nabi and Inspectors Rao Liaqat Ali, Mohammad Alam and Mohammad Zarwar in Punjab zone; Assistant Director Sardar Khan in Sindh zone; Assistant Directors Habibullah Tarin and Farooq Ahmad in Balochistan zone; and Assistant Director Aziz Ahmed Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa zone.

Deputy Director Abdul Shakoor Memon remained posted in Karachi zone for 32 years. Javed Hussain and Ikramullah Khan, deputy directors, have served in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa zones for 19 and 18 years respectively.

Similarly, 17 assistant directors served in different zones for 16 to 34 years. They are: Shaukat Ali in Punjab zone for 34 years, Tariq Yousaf in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa zone for 33 years, Munir Akhtar Shah in Punjab Zone for 30 years, Ghulam Abbas Baloch in Karachi zone for 30 years, Arif Ali Bukhari in Punjab zone for 28 years, Khalid Rehmat in Punjab Zone for 25 years, Zubari Ahmed Pechuho in Karachi Zone for 24 years, Mushtaq Ahmed Skeikh in Karachi zone for 22 years, Abdul Hameed Bhutto in Karachi zone for 22 years, Safiullah Jokhiho in Karachi zone for 22 years, Inamullah Khan Gandapur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for 22 years, Kamran Attaullah in Punjab Zone for 19 years, Imtiaz Ali Channa in Sindh zone for 17 years, Tariq Pervez in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa zone for 17 years, Mohammad Ahmed in Punjab Zone for 17 years, Khalid Anees in Punjab zone for 17 years, and Agha Ishrat Ali in Karachi zone for 16 years.

Inspector Mohammad Iqbal has served in Punjab zone for 33 years. Nine Inspectors Mohammad Hashim Raza, Ghulam Sarwar Warraich, Mohammad Amanullah, Ijaz Ahmad, Sarfraz Ali, Mohammad Nadeem, Rai Nasrullah, Saleh Gilani, and Mian Mohammad Sabir have served in Punjab zone for eight years. Inspector Farrukah Baig has served in the Punjab Zone for seven years.