KARACHI: The executive council of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) has reappointed Zubair Habib as the head of the CPLC for the next three years, it emerged on Wednesday.

The decision was taken during the inaugural meeting of the newly formed council, which was constituted in accordance with the Police Act of 2019 andchaired by the Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar.

`The home minister, in consultation with the executive council, directed CPLC chief Zubair Habib to continue in his position,` said an official statement issued on Wednesday.

Mr Habib told Dawn that the CPLC had previously operated under police rules. However, after the Sindh Assembly passed the Police Act in 2019, the CPLC was declared a `statutory body`, necessitating a new configuration.

Earlier, the Sindh governor served as the head of the advisory council, but under the new arrangement, the home minister became its chairman, he said.

Now, the home minister will chair the executive council,whose members include the home secretary, law secretary, inspector general of police, secretary of the public safety commission and the CPLC chief. The operational head of the CPLC will be its chief nominated by the executive council.

Mr Habib said this was the first meeting of the executive council, during which he was appointed as the CPLC head for the next three years.

The meeting also appointed five members from the private sector: former Additional IG Saleem Vahidy, two businessmen, Ziad Bashir and Saqib Sheerazi, Advocate Qurban Ali Malano and Panjwani Foundation chairperson Nadira Panjwani.

The participants of the meeting also established a `financecommittee`.

It appointed Shabbar Malik as the deputy chief of the CPLC for operations.

The home minister also instructed the submission of recommendations for increasing financial assistance to the CPLC in the 2025-26 financial year.

Mr Lanjar noted that Sindh was the only province where the CPLC had been established and had functioned successfully. He termed it a model of public-private partnership in combating crime and addressing citizens` grievances.

The minister also directed the CPLC chief to expand its network into Upper Sindh, assuring that the provincial government would support the provision of office space and other resources.