*ISLAMABAD: Federal government has reportedly punished the top governmentofficial of the Interior Ministry over differences with the bosses onplacing Nawaz Sharif name on ECL. *

*Federal government transferred an official of interior ministry, who hasbeen serving as additional secretary, to Economic Affairs Division amidgrowing debate over placing names of Sharif family members on Exit ControlList (ECL), ARY News reported.*

Sher Afgan Niazi, an additional secretary at the interior ministry, hasbeen transferred to Ministry of Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs. Anotification of his transfer has also been issued.

According to sources, there was dissension within the interior ministryover inclusion of Sharif family members’ names on no-fly list.

The sources further said the officer had dissented from other officials andrecommended implementation of request made by the National AccountabilityBureau (NAB).

On February 14, the anti-graft body had written a letter to the interiorministry to place former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter MaryamNawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar.

Moreover, a 21-grade officer at Federal Education and Professional TrainingDivision, Imran Ahmed, now will replace Niazi as additional secretary atInterior Ministry.

On Friday, the matter about inclusion of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifand his family members’ names on the ECL was raised at the parliament.

Responding to a question, former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khansaid the interior ministry’s committee was answerable for decisions onrecommendations for including names on the no-fly list.

Speaking at the floor of National Assembly, the estranged PML-N leader said“if” a decision to not include the names of Sharif family members on thelist has been finalized, it must have been made somewhere else.

He was making a response to PPP lawmaker Syed Naveed Qamar’s question aboutdelay on the NAB recommendations about placing Sharifs on the ECL.