KARACHI: Amid growing incidents of street crime, the Sindh government on Friday removed Karachi police chief Additional Inspector General Imran Yaqoob Minhas in just nine months in the office and appointed his predecessor Addl. IG Ghulam Nabi Memon as the new police chief.

Ghulam Nabi Memon’s appointment as the city police chief has come as a surprise for many as he was sent packing from the same office in May 2021.

According to a notification issued by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah, “Ghulam Nabi Memon, an officer of Police Service of Pakistan (BS-21), Additional Inspector General of Police, Special Branch, Sindh, is transferred and posted with immediate effect and until further orders as Additional Inspector General of Police, Karachi Range.”

It said Addl. IG Minhas was transferred and posted with immediate effect and until further orders as the head of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Sindh.

Govt appoints Ghulam Nabi Memon as new chief; posts Imran Minhas as CTD head

Another PSP officer in BS-21, Allah Bux alias Javed Akhtar Odho, was transferred and posted as Addl. IG-Special Branch in place of Ghulam Nabi Memon.

Addl. IG Memon was appointed as city police chief for first time in July 2019. He was transferred in May 2021 against the backdrop of the federal government’s rotation policy.

The Establishment Division had contended that the transfer of an officer was required if they had served in a province continuously for 10 years for providing them ‘diverse’ experience and promotion in next grade.

But, the Sindh government had shown reluctance to send Memon out of the province and appointed him as the chief of the special branch.

Routine change?

The Police Act of 2019 clearly states “under exceptional circumstances, due to exigency of service or on grounds of misconduct and inefficiency which warrant major penalty under the relevant rules, the Deputy Inspector General of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police may be transferred, with the approval of the Government, before completion of the term of office”.

However, the government did not cite any reason behind the transfer of the police chief Minhas.

While the Chief Minister House termed it a “routine administrative change”, sources in the police department said that rumours of transfer of Imran Minhas were rife since last one month.

Nevertheless, they added that the appointment of Mr Memon as the city police chief came as ‘surprise’ for them because an impression had been created in the department that Addl. IG Odho was going to be appointed as the Karachi police chief.

The sources said that the transfer of Mr Minhas might not be linked with the street crime situation, though a section of media had given an impression as if he was “punished” for the unsatisfactory law and order in Karachi.

However, a host of challenges awaits the new police chief ranging from growing number of street crimes to the question mark over performance of the police in Karachi and serious allegations of ‘protecting’ influential facing serious criminal charges.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2022