MM News

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Tuesday transferred Balochistan Inspector General of police Mohsin Hassan Butt and replaced him with Muhammad Tahir Rai as a new provincial chief.

A notification issued by the Cabinet Secretariat of the Establishment Division read that Rai has been transferred and posted as the Provincial Police Officer (PPO) Balochistan with immediate effect and until further orders.

Rai is a BS-21 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan. He was previously the additional IG of the Counter-Terrorism Department in Punjab.

Sources disclosed that the decision has been taken in the context of recent terrorism incidents in Balochistan. Rai Tahir has been working as part of CTD Punjab for the past six years, during which time, his performance regarding counter-terrorism has been satisfactory.

It is hoped that after taking charge, Rai Tahir will be able to use his extensive experience to put a clamp on terrorism in the province.

It may be recalled that in early July 2018, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Dost Mohammad Khan had tried to remove the then IGP Mohammad Tahir and appoint Muhammad Naeem Khan as his replacement by taking the plea that security lapse had occurred under the IGP’s charge when over 20 people, including ANP candidate Haroon Bilour, were killed in a suicide bombing in Peshawar.

However, his proposal wasn’t accepted. The caretaker chief minister had also tried unsuccessfully to remove Kamran Naveed Baloch as chief secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and replace him with Ahmad Hanif Orakzai on the same plea.