Intelligence Bureau (Pakistan)

The Intelligence Bureau ( ; IB) is an intelligence and security agency in Pakistan, focused primarily on non-military intelligence. Established in 1947, the IB is Pakistan's oldest intelligence agency. It is led by the Director General (DG IB), who is usually an officer from the Police Service of Pakistan.

The government of Pakistan elevated the Intelligence Bureau status from a semi-autonomous agency to a Division, upgrading it to the equivalent of a Federal Ministry, under oversight of a federal secretary. Appointments and supervision of its operations are authorized by the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

History

The Intelligence Bureau traces its origin to the Central Special Branch, established on 23 December 1887 by the British government in India to gather intelligence on political unrest. Its creation followed Secret Dispatch No. 11, dated 25 March 1887, in which R. A. Cross, the Secretary of State for India, sanctioned the proposal by Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy of India, to create a system for the "collection of secret and political intelligence in India".

Dufferin proposed utilizing the police forces in British India and political officers in princely states for the "collection of intelligence on political, social and religious movements". He recommended the establishment of "special agencies" at both central and provincial headquarters. The Provincial Special Branches, under local government control, were tasked with sharing intelligence with the Central Special Branch. Dufferin modelled the agency after the Third Section of Imperial Russia. To reduce expenses, the agency shared the manpower and facilities of the existing Thuggee and Dacoity Department. The General Superintendent of the Department was entrusted with the supervision of the Central Special Branch. The Provincial Special Branches were attached to the offices of either the Inspector General of Police or the chief secretary of the respective provinces.

In 1904, based on the recommendations of the Indian Police Commission (1902 – 1903) chaired by Andrew Fraser, the Central Criminal Intelligence Department—also known as the Department of Criminal Intelligence (DCI)—was established. This reorganization led to the abolition of the Thuggee and Dacoity Department and the merger of the Central Special Branch into the DCI. Additionally, Criminal Investigation Departments (CID) were created in the provinces. Initially, Provincial Special Branches were incorporated into the CIDs, but they were later separated as their functions evolved.

Section 40(2) of the Government of India Act 1919 stated that "the Intelligence Bureau should keep the Government posted with matters relating to the security of the Indian Empire." Reflecting this directive, the DCI was renamed the Intelligence Bureau in 1920, a year before the Act formally came into force in 1921.

In the aftermath of the independence of Pakistan by the British Crown, the IB, like the armed forces was partitioned, with a Pakistan IB created in Karachi. Since, the IB is the oldest intelligence community; others being the Military Intelligence (MI) of Pakistan's military. The IB was initially Pakistan's only and main intelligence agency with the responsibility for strategic and foreign intelligences, as well as counter-espionage and domestic affairs.

Its poor performance with the MI and unsatisfactory detailing of the war with India in 1947 was however considered less than exemplary. Due to the fact, IB was concerned with internal security matters, and was not set up for foreign intelligence collection. These considerations ultimately led to the creation of the ISI in 1948 as it quickly took the charge of gathering strategic and foreign intelligence at all levels of command.

Appointment for IB's Director-General are made by the Prime Minister but the appointment has to be confirmed by the President. The IB is a civilian intelligence agency, and its DG have been appointed from the civil bureaucracy and the police; as well as retired military officials have also served as DG IB.

Operations

Since the 1950s–1980s, the IB was running active operations to monitor politicians, political activists, suspected terrorists, and suspected foreign intelligence agents. Right after Dhaka Fall in 1971, the IB apprised the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of coup discussions between the Commander-in-Chief, Gul Hassan Khan and Air Chief Marshal Abdul Rahim Khan. Bhutto and his close aides, including Ghulam Mustafa Khar, in a counter-coup invited both Generals to the President House under false pretenses and obtained their resignations. The IB keeps tabs on political operatives from countries it considers hostile to Pakistan's interests. In the 1990s, the IB gained international reputation when its agents had successfully infiltrated many of the terrorist organizations.

In 1996, the IB was granted control of government censorship programs, controlling information dissemination via mail, wire, or electronic medium. In the 1990s, the IB remained actively involved to curb sectarianism and the fundamentalism in the country. Many of its operations were directed towards infiltration, conducting espionage, counterespionage, and providing key information on terrorist organizations. After the disastrous 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the IB played its role as a stakeholder of the government. IB's successful infiltration techniques has led to the capture and detainment of many of high-profile terrorists and sectarian militants. Moreover, it has been instrumental in efforts to break terrorist networks and organised crime rackets throughout the country especially Karachi through its sophisticated human and technical intelligence apparatus. The agency had also been blamed for its belligerent role in Operation Clean-up at Karachi in 1991–92 and 1994–96.

The IB is considered to be a main tool of the government to pacify opposition elements and is sometimes viewed as a government toppling machine. One case under discussion in the Supreme Court of Pakistan is for the alleged involvement of the agency in destabilizing the Punjab Government in 2008.

In 2019 after Indian airstrikes in Pakistan's Balakot, IB managed to bust whole ring of local informers that mapped and provided crucial operations to Indian RAW which helped IAF in locating its targets.

In January 2021, the IB caught a former militant, Salimullah, filming a strategic military installation in Kashmir for RAW.

IB successfully foiled ISIS-K plan to assassinate President Arif Alvi during president's Sibi visit in 2022.

RAW's nefarious plan to infiltrate spies into prominent military installations of Pakistan was countered by IB in 2022. The IB unmasked 25 Indian agents and successfully thwarted India's attempt to infiltrate Pakistan security apparatus.

In yet another highly secretive and successful operation, a retired- Rangers commando, Muhammad Ali who was working as a hitman for RAW by running an assassination cell within Pakistan that aimed to eliminate prominent Kashmiri militants was nabbed along with his accomplices in 2023. His entire cell was dismantled by IB. Later, it was revealed that Muhammad Ali was tasked by Indian agencies to eliminate Hafiz Saeed and other Kashmiri militant leaders residing inside Pakistan after RAW's failed assassination bid to eliminate Hafiz in 2021.

Constitutionality and powers

The IB agents have no formal arrest powers, and its suspects are often apprehended and interrogated by the FIA agents at the request of the IB officials.

The IB also passes on intelligence gained through infiltration between other Pakistan's intelligence community, police, and other Law enforcement units. The Bureau also grants the necessary security clearances to Pakistani diplomats and judges before they take the oath. Powers granted by the government, the IB also intercepts and opens regular mails and letters on a daily basis.

Designations

Organization

List of IB officers killed in the line of duty

*1993: Abdul Latif Baloch
*1983: Aman-Ullah Khan, Director General
*2008: Khaliq uz zaman, Inspector
*2009: Qamar Anees Shaheed, Assistant Sub Inspector
*2010: Saif Ullah Khalid, Inspector
*2010: Kashif Khan
*2011: Hassan Raza
*2011: Alam Khan, Sub Inspector
*2011: Abdul Razzaq, Inspector
*2011: Arshad Ghayas, Assistant Sub Inspector
*2011: Siraj, Deputy Director
*2012: Qamar Raza
*2012: Bashir Khan, Inspector
*2013: Muhammad Ali, Sub-Inspector
*2013: Khawaja Abdul Wahab, Inspector Sargodha
*2013: Mazhar Awan, Sub Inspector Sargodh''a
*2013: Mazhar Ali, Sub Inspector Sargodha
*2013: Agha Aatif Khan, Assistant Sub Inspector Sargodha
*2013: Abdul Mueed Hamirani, Assistant Director
*2013: Sajid Hussain Zahidi, Assistant Director
*2014: Manan Shah, Inspector
*2014: Rana Saad Noorani
*2016: Usman Gul, Inspector
*2021: Khan Bahadur, Sub Inspector
*2022: Muzahir Hussain Bangash, APS
*2022: Amjad Khan, Assistant Sub inspector
*2022: Najeeb Khan, Assistant Sub inspector

List of IB chiefs

#Major Tayyab Raza, November 1982
#Brig. Imtiaz Ahmad, 1990–1993
# Maj.(R) Masood Shareef 1993–1996
# Ch. Manzoor Ahmed (PSP) 1997 – August 1998
# Col (R) Iqbal Niazi, August 1998 – October 1999
# Major Gen Rafi Ullah Niazi 1999 – ?
# Maj Gen (R) Talat Munir, ? – October 2002
# Col (R) Bashir Wali Mohmmand, October 2002 – February 2003
# Brig (R) Ijaz Shah, February 2004 – March 2008
# Tariq Ahmed Lodhi ( PSP), March 2008 – August 2008
# Shoaib Suddle ( PSP), August 2008 – May 2009
# Javed Noor ( PSP), May 2009 – October 2011
# Akhter Hassan Gorchani ( PSP), July 2012 – March 2013
# Aftab Sultan ( PSP), June 2013 – June 2018
# Dr. Suleman Khan ( PSP), May 2018 – July 2018
# Ihsan Ghani ( PSP), July 2018 – August 2018
# Shujaat Ullah Qureshi ( IB-cadre), August 2018 – September 2018
# Dr Suleman Khan ( PSP), September 2018 – April 2022
# Fuad Asadullah Khan (IB-cadre) S(ST), T(ST), nsc, April 2022

References

Bibliography

* Gauhar, Altaf. "How Intelligence Agencies Run Our Politics". ''The Nation''. September 1997: 4.

External links

Thirteen spymasters gather to stare at each other

Former IB chiefs meet 'secretly' over dinner

Pakistani Defence Overview of Intelligence





IB deputy director shot dead in Karachi


* Supreme Court hearing case for involvement of IB in toppling Provincial Government

{{Domestic national intelligence agencies

Pakistani intelligence agencies
Pakistan federal departments and agencies
1947 establishments in Pakistan
Government agencies established in 1947