Pakistan security forces arrested Lt Gen. Faiz Hameed in connection of widespread corruption and abuse of his authority while in service. His arrest makes the third senior officer to face arrest in the country so far under the current leadership.
Hameed, who served as Pakistan’s top spymaster from June 2019 to November 2021, was considered to have close relations with the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The general was also running to succeed Gen. Qamar Javed Bajawa as Pakistan Army Chief. There is speculation that Hameed was put behind bars only due to his close ties with Imran Khan.
Hameed resigned in November 2022 and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed Lt Gen. Asim Munir to the top post, but the saga over the resignation of Hameed still remained confusing.
Hameed had visited Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan in August 2021, just days after the Taliban returned to power following the withdrawal of US troops from the country after 20 years.
Hameed, who was ISI chief at that time, visited Kabul on the invitation of Taliban and he was seen along with other Pakistani officials having tea in Serena Hotel in Kabul. Hameed faces court martial following his arrest for alleged misconduct in a case related to a private housing scheme.
Hameed was arrested following complaints in a property case and appropriate disciplinary action
The Pakistani military in a statement said that they arrested retired Lieutenant-General Faiz Hameed, the former head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, to “ascertain the correctness” of complaints in a property case and “appropriate disciplinary action” was initiated against him.
The statement said there were “multiple instances of violation” of the Army Act by Hameed after his retirement in December 2022. “The process of Field General Court Martial has been initiated, and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd) has been taken into military custody,” it added.
“Therefore”, the three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa said, “they cannot be left unattended”, according to a report published by local news agency Dawn.
It has also been reported that in 2017, when Hameed was a senior officer in the ISI, his team had raided a home and took away gold and diamond jewelry after falsely accusing the owner of the home of terrorism.
The petitioner said that he was subsequently forced to “pay 4 crore Pakistani rupees in cash” and “sponsor a private TV network for a few months” in a deal brokered by Hameed’s brother, Sardar Najaf.
Where is Hameed now?
In a press release, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said: “Complying with the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan, a detailed court of inquiry was undertaken by Pakistan Army, to ascertain correctness of complaints in Top City case made against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd)…
“Consequently, appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd), under provisions of Pakistan Army Act.”
Hameed has been put under arrest, but he is not in jail like other civilians rather he is in a guest room of an army officers mess in Rawalpinid, with some army officers deputed to guard him.
During his career in the military, Hameed was commissioned in the Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan Army in 1987, and he is a course-mate of Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted Hameed to serve as Chief of Army
He also served in 56th battalion of the Baloch Regiment, and on promotion to the rank of Major General, commanded the 16 Infantry Division in Pano Aqil in Southern Sindh. Eventually, he was promoted to the top post in ISI as DG Counter Intelligence.
Beside Imran Khan, Hameed was also considered close to then Army Chief Gen Bajwa, but Bajwa removed him as DG ISI in October 2021 due to growing differences during Imran Khan’s government. Khan even wanted to see Hameed in the position of Army Chief, but things went wrong, and Khan was in a huge political dilemma that led to his arrest and removal from Prime Minister post.
At the same time, the military establishment of Pakistan is always using its power against anyone it wants. Hameed is the third senior officer to be forced to resign. In April 2024, Lt Gen Ayman Bilal Safdar, the GOC 1 Corps stationed at Mangla in Punjab, was forced to resign after the ISI recorded some critical comments he made about the Army Chief during a visit to Saudi Arabia.
An Artillery officer, Lt Gen Safdar could have had a shot at the office of Army Chief in 2025 if Gen Munir retires at the end of his three-year term. Before that, in May 2023, Lt Gen Salman Fayyaz Ghani, then GOC 4 Corps at Lahore, was fired from his position.
