Rao Sardar Ali Khan (; born 21 February 1965) is a Pakistani civil servant and police officer who served as

inspector-general of police An inspector-general of police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most ...

(IGP) of the Punjab Police. He served from 8 September 2021 to 22 July 2022. He is currently serving as IG of Railway Police of Pakistan.

Early life and education

Rao Sardar Ali Khan was born on 21 February 1965, in

Lodhran Lodhran (), is a city and the capital of Lodhran District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 81st largest city. It is located on the northern side of River Sutlej The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in ...

, Pakistan. His family migrated from Julana,

Jind District Jind district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Jind town is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is part of Hisar Division and was created in 1966. Etymology The district derives its name from its ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

, in 1947. Prior to joining the civil service, he graduated with an MBBS from the

King Edward Medical College King Edward Medical University (Punjabi language, Punjabi, Urdu: ; commonly abbreviated as KEMU) is a Public university, public Medical school, medical university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established as ''Lah ...

in Lahore.

Career

Rao Sardar is a graduate of the 18th

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

batch of the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

. He was commissioned in the

Police Service of Pakistan Law enforcement in Pakistan () is one of the three main components of the criminal justice system of Pakistan, alongside the judiciary and the prisons. The country has a mix of federal, provincial and territorial police forces with both general ...

in 1990 at the age of 25, as an

assistant superintendent Assistant superintendent, or assistant superintendent of police (ASP), is a rank that was used by police forces in the British Empire and is still used in many police forces in the Commonwealth. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held ...

of police (ASP). As ASP, he held postings in Quetta and Bannu, before discharging duties as a

sub-divisional police officer {{More citations needed, date=December 2023 Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), also known as circle officer (CO) in some states like In the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the post is known as circle officer (CO)., is a police officer ...

(SDPO) in Quaidabad, Quetta, Samhari, Jafarabad, and Ferozewala. He was promoted to the rank of superintendent (SP), following which he served in various districts of the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

including Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Sargodha, Rahim Yar Khan, Chakwal, and Mianwali. Later, he was appointed as the additional inspector-general (AIG) for Development and for Logistics, before being transferred to the

Establishment Division The Establishment Division is the human resource arm of the Government of Pakistan. It deals with all matters related to the country's civil service and is regarded as one of the most sensitive and important divisions of the federal government. ...

in Islamabad. Rao Sardar was then promoted to the rank of deputy inspector-general (DIG), following which he held the posts of DIG for Operations in Lahore, City Police Officer (CPO) in Faisalabad, and Regional Police Officer (RPO) in Sargodha and Bahawalpur. He also worked in the Intelligence Bureau for five years, during which he headed its Punjab branch, and served on a United Nations mission in an official capacity for eight months as well as in Australia for two years. In April 2020, Rao Sardar was given charge of leading the Punjab Safe Cities Authority as its Managing Director.

Inspector-general

In September 2021, it was announced that Rao Sardar had been selected to head the Punjab Police force, after his name was approved by prime minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

and the federal cabinet for the slot of

. It was noted that he was the seventh police chief to be appointed in Punjab within three years during the tenure of the incumbent PTI-led

Usman Buzdar Sardar Usman Ahmed Khan Buzdar (; born 1 May 1969) is a Pakistani politician who was Chief Minister of Punjab, Pakistan, Chief Minister of Punjab from 20 August 2018 to 30 April 2022. Buzdar was a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab fro ...

ministry, which came into power in 2018. He replaced the outgoing IGP, Inam Ghani, who was transferred as the inspector-general for

Pakistan Railways Police The Pakistan Railways Police is a federal law enforcement agency in Pakistan that is responsible for maintaining law and order within the jurisdiction of Pakistan Railways. History The Pakistan Railways Police was founded according to the ''Paki ...

. Sardar's name had reportedly remained in contention for the post of IGP earlier in September 2020 as well, when Ghani was nominated. At the time of his appointment, Sardar was a senior Grade 21 officer. He was shortlisted for the position amongst three candidates. According to sources in the police, he enjoyed a "highly professional, competent, and honest" reputation and was considered by his peers as someone capable of turning around the police department and tackling crime rates in the Punjab. However, they maintained that his success depended upon how much of a "free hand" he would be allowed by the Chief Minister to run his team, and whether there would be any political interference from the provincial government. Rao Sardar took office as the 53rd inspector-general of Punjab Police on 8 September 2021. On the day of his appointment, he met Chief Minister Buzdar and held a press briefing with the media outlining his priorities as police chief. He shared his views on stemming corruption within the police department, taking action against fake FIRs, enforcing crackdowns against land mafia, tackling crimes against women, children and minorities, and transforming the police from a "force-oriented to service-oriented" department. In May 2022, Sardar was promoted to

Grade 22 Grade-22 (also referred to as BPS-22) is the highest attainable rank for a Civil Servant in Pakistan. Grade 22 is equal to a 4-star and 3-star rank of the Pakistan Armed Forces. With over five hundred thousand civil servants and bureaucrats in Pak ...

following a meeting of the High Powered Selection Board (HPSB). In July 2022, he was transferred to Railway Police as Inspector General of Railway Police.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Rao Sardar Ali 1965 births Living people King Edward Medical University alumni Pakistani civil servants Pakistani expatriates in Australia Pakistani police chiefs People from Lodhran District Inspector Generals of the Punjab Police (Pakistan)