Deputy commissioner Lower Chitral transferred

CHITRAL: Deputy Commissioner Lower Chitral Khursheed Alam Mahsud has been transferred and PMS officer Naveed Ahmed is named as his successor.

Mahsud has been made Secretary II Board of Revenue Peshawar.

Also read: Heads may roll over Shandur festival row

Mahsud was posted to Chitral in June 2018 by the then caretaker government of KP in a major reshuffle of officers before the July general elections.

During his over one year posting in Chitral, he saw bifurcation of Chitral into lower and upper districts.

On two occasions, the commissioner of Malakand Division Riaz Khan Mahsud had to overrule the DC’s controversial decisions.

In April this year, the DC ordered sealing of the Fokker Friendship Restaurant near Chitral airport citing safety concerns. Though the restaurant had been there for years, its sealing was seen as a result of his differences with its owner, Shahzada Siraj Ulmulk.

However, within less than 24 hours, the owner announced that the restaurant had been reopened on the direction of the commissioner.

Before the Shandur festival 2019, when the selection team prepared a list of players, the DC unilaterally dropped veteran player and Chitral A team captain Shahzada Sikendar Ulmulk, the younger brother of Mr Siraj.

This led to a public outcry with people of Chitral rejecting the interference of the DC in the management of the polo game.

The commissioner then visited Chitral and held a meeting with the DC and the polo players and selectors and announced to retain the players announced by the selectors.