ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which is all set to form government in the centre and Punjab, is planning to introduce reforms in the police force of the country’s largest province on the lines of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police.

Well-placed sources informed The Nation that Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan had met former police officer Dr Shoaib Suddle at Bani Gala just two days after PTI’s election victory in the centre and Punjab on July 27.

They claimed that the PTI chief had assigned a task to Suddle to start working on the police reforms and guide the PTI government how to change the Thana culture in Punjab. Well-reputed Shoaib Suddle had served on top positions in federal and Punjab police and considered close to Imran Khan. The new government will reshuffle bureaucracy in the centre and provinces and appoint its new teams.

PTI leadership has also started preparation of a list of the non-controversial bureaucrats and Shoaib Suddle is assisting the party in this regard. The appointments of new IGPs of KP and Punjab will also be a task of the new government and PTI would try to appoint a professional IG Punjab to change the repute of Punjab police.

Talking to The Nation, Shoaib Suddle confirmed that he met Imran Khan at his residency. He said that both discussed different issues but no task has also been assigned to anyone so far.

Suddle joined the police department in 1973 and he held several key positions both at operational and strategic levels in the Police Service of Pakistan. He led Balochistan police for three years before he was posted as DG National Police Bureau. During his tenure in NPB, he contributed in reshaping policing counter terrorism policy in Pakistan. He co-authored the Police Order 2002, which replaced the 141-year-old Police Law in Pakistan. He is also a visiting criminal justice expert at the United Nations Asia and Far East institute on Crime Prevention and Treatment of Offenders.

He had served as DG Intelligence Bureau and Federal Tax Ombudsman. Imran Khan had repeatedly raised questions on performance of Punjab Police and he claimed that PTI would introduce reforms in the provincial police on the lines of KP police. KP Assembly had passed the K-P Police Act of 2017 on January 24 and it was a historic moment as Pakistan’s first-ever provincial legislation related to the police. All credit goes to the PTI government and its chief who had given the task to provincial government to complete his police reforms agenda.

A senior police official said that the PTI government empowered the police in KP and appointed a non-controversial and active police officer Nasir Khan Durrani with full powers and PTI MPs and provincial ministers were not allowed to pass a single instruction to police officials. He said it is difficult to change police culture in Punjab but not impossible. He suggested that PTI should introduce KP police model in Punjab and post a well-reputed senior police officer to lead the force. He was hopeful that PTI leadership would not allow its MPs to create hurdles in police work in Punjab.