Gomal bleeds 

VC Zafar Iqbal, Registrar Zahir Shah removed

KP Chief Minister Suhail Afridi finally formed body to probe corruption, drug smuggling, use of fire arms and other allegations

Minute Mirror only newspaper to continue breaking corruption stories at Gomal University

Students, employees take a sigh of relief as Zafar Iqbal’s one year at VC office ends, term it the worst ever year on campus

By Aslam Awan and Areeb Zaidi

Dera Ismail Khan: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has placed the highly controversial Vice Chancellor of Gomal University, Zafar Iqbal, on 90 days of forced leave and constituted a three-member inquiry committee to investigate allegations of maladministration, financial irregularities, governance failures, and other serious complaints within the university.

In a parallel move aimed at ensuring a transparent and impartial inquiry process, the Higher Education Department (HED) has also removed Acting Registrar Zahir Shah from his position and appointed Imran Ullah Khan, Administrative Officer (BPS-19), as Acting Registrar until further orders.

According to Notification No. SO(U-I)HED/7-5/GU-DIK/2026, issued by the Higher Education Department on June 23, 2026, Chief Minister Suhail Afridi in his capacity as Chancellor under Section 12(8) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Act, 2012, exercised his authority to send the Vice Chancellor on leave following preliminary findings and recommendations submitted by an HED-established inquiry body.

The notification further states that the Chief Minister, exercising powers under Section 21(2) of the Universities Model Act, directed the constitution of a three-member committee to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the ongoing governance crisis at Gomal University.

The committee comprises:

– The Commissioner, Dera Ismail Khan Division (Convener).

– The Vice Chancellor of the University of Peshawar (Member).

– The Registrar of the University of Science and Technology Bannu (Member/Secretary).

The committee has been tasked with examining a wide range of issues, including allegations related to administration, financial management, recruitment practices, security arrangements, hostel administration, and the deteriorating state of student discipline at the university.

Among the specific terms of reference, the committee will investigate the alleged shooting incident involving the university’s Security Officer and a student of the Law College that was highlighted on social media. It will also conduct an impartial inquiry into reports of drug-related activities and the resulting conflict in Hostel No. 1.

Furthermore, the panel will examine allegations of appointments and recruitments made in violation of merit and review other complaints of a similar nature.

The inquiry will include a detailed assessment of the university’s overall administrative performance, including security protocols, hostel management, enforcement of discipline, adherence to recruitment rules, and allegations of administrative misconduct and procedural violations.

The committee has also been directed to obtain views and submissions from all relevant stakeholders, determine responsibility for any misconduct, negligence, abuse of authority, or violation of rules, and recommend corrective, preventive, and disciplinary measures against those found responsible under the applicable laws and regulations.

In addition, the committee may investigate any other matter it deems relevant, even if not explicitly covered under the approved terms of reference.

The inquiry body has been instructed to submit a fact-based and evidence-driven report to the Higher Education Department within fifteen days.

The latest development marks one of the most significant administrative interventions in Gomal University’s recent history and signals the provincial government’s intention to address longstanding concerns regarding governance, accountability, and institutional management at the university.

Gomal University’s fall from grace began when Zafar Iqbal was made its vice chancellor in May last year. The one year of his vice chancellorship is dubbed the worst year in the history of the university.

Minute Mirror is the only newspaper in Pakistan that broke the issue of alleged sale and purchase of jobs, smuggling of drugs, use of fire arms, and widespread corruption on campus.

Zafar Iqbal is a teacher of media studies and all big media houses were following the line he gave them to follow. But Minute Mirror raised pertinent questions and sought their answers.

The shocking replies that Minute Mirror got were from Dr. Usman Ghani, director of IMSciences, who was convenor of a two-member inquiry committee to probe allegations of sale and purchase of jobs.

Apart from formation of the committee, he was unwilling to accept that it is humanly impossible for one single selection board to conduct over 1000 interviews for higher grade jobs of academic nature.

He rudely turned down the question that if selection board members read at least one page of CVs of over 1000 candidates, they will have to read at least 300,000 words before starting interviews as the least indicator of fair play, saying that it was not a big deal.

Lega expert Chaudhry Sharaft Ali says that Dr. Usman Ghani-led committee’s report was seemingly written by Zafar Iqbal and the authors did not bother to adopt even a proactive method to collect as much data as possible.

The aggrieved candidates demanded that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi must take into account the clean chit that Dr. Usman Ghani-led committee had given to Zafar Iqbal so that merit prevails and deserving candidates are appointed on the vacancies allegedly filled with corrupt intents.