The federal government on Monday transferred the services of Ziaur Rehman, a younger brother of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, back to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, days after he was appointed the deputy commissioner of a key Karachi district by the Sindh government.

An Establishment Division notification dated July 27 said: "Ziaur Rehman, a BS-19 officer of Provincial Management Service (PMS), government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, presently posted in government of Sindh, is transferred and his services are repatriated to the KP government with immediate effect."

Earlier today, it had emerged that the KP government had written to the Establishment Division and asked for Rehman to be transferred back to the province.

"The provincial government is facing a shortage of cadre officers and the services of said officer [Rehman] are required for posting in KP," the letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said.

On July 23, the Sindh government had posted Rehman as the deputy commissioner of Karachi’s Central district by transferring Farhan Ghani, an ex-PCS officer, also in grade-19.

At first it was unclear how an official of the KP government managed to bring himself at the disposal of the Sindh government and the move was seen as the outcome of a meeting between PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Maulana Fazl in Karachi on July 10.

But after criticism from its opponents over the posting, the Sindh government of PPP claimed that it was actually the federal government which had transferred Fazl's brother to Sindh.

PPP leaders shared a Jan 22 notification of the Establishment Division placing the services of Ziaur Rehman, an officer of KP’s Provincial Management Service in grade-19, at the disposal of the Sindh government “on deputation basis”.

After news of Rehman's appointment became public, both the PTI and MQM-P had voiced concern over the Sindh government’s move since Rehman has no prior administrative experience in the province.

However, the Sindh government had defended the move; provincial information minister Nasir Shah had told the media that it was “not a crime to be the brother of Maulana Fazlur Rehman”.