Ahead of the election for the new chief minister, police officials entered the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on Wednesday, sealing the premises and evacuating journalists and lawmakers present.
A day earlier, the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court had disqualified Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid on charges of obtaining a licence from the region’s bar council based on a fake degree.
Subsequently, the PTI had nominated Raja Azam as the party’s candidate for the slot while the PPP had nominated Amjad Advocate, the PML-N had nominated Engineer Anwar and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam had nominated Rehmat Khaliq.
The deadline to submit candidates’ nomination papers was noon while the election was to take place at 3pm today.
However, shortly after the first deadline lapsed, a heavy police contingent headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Farman Ali entered the assembly hall and sealed it.
At the same time, officials told the journalists gathered at the scene to exit from the main gate, asking the assembly staff to do the same shortly thereafter. The police contingent then encircled the premises and also barred lawmakers from entering.
Later, Dar Ali Khan Khattak was removed as the GB inspector general and replaced by Afzal Mahmood Butt.
The transfers were notified by the Establishment Divison, which said: “Dar Ali Khan Khattak, a BS-20 officer of Police Service of Pakistan, Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, is transferred and directed to report to the Establishment Division, with immediate effect and until further orders.”
In a separate notification, the government’s human resource arms stated: “Afzal Mahmood Butt, a BS-20 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan, presently serving under the Government of Punjab, is transferred and posted as the inspector general of police, Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, under Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973, with immediate effect until further orders.”
