The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday suspended the Cabinet Secretariat's notification announcing the appointment of Amjad Javed Saleemi as the Punjab police chief.

Hours after the appointment was made public, the ECP informed the Establishment Division through a letter that it had suspended the notification as it was a violation of the commission's directives of September 3, 2018, banning postings and transfers of government officials in the wake of the by-elections scheduled for October 14.

Through the letter, the ECP director (elections) has instructed the secretary of the Establishment Division to explain within two days why its directions "have not been complied with".

Earlier in the day, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for Punjab had been changed for a second time in two months, as Saleemi replaced Muhammad Tahir as the provincial police chief.

The Cabinet Secretariat's notification had announced the change "with immediate effect and until further orders".

There was no reason mentioned for the transfer in the notification.

With the suspension of the notification, Tahir has been reinstated as the Punjab police chief.

Saleemi, a BS-22 officer, was serving as the commandant of National Police Academy until recently, before which he had been posted as the Sindh IGP.

After a shuffle in the police force in September, Saleemi was replaced in Sindh by Syed Kaleem Imam who was the then Punjab IGP. Tahir, who was the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) IGP at the time, was appointed as Punjab's police chief. Salahuddin Khan assumed the position of KP's police chief.