Rao Abdur Rashid
Former Special Secretary of National Intelligence Board and IB Chief (Pakistan)
Rao Abdur Rashid (surname pronounced "Rasheed") was a career officer in the Police Service of Pakistan who was born before partition of the Indian Subcontinent in Klanaur, Indian Punjab (1926).
He has the distinction of being the first (and perhaps only) Special Secretary of Pakistan's National Intelligence Board (NIB) that was constituted by Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to compile reports from, and manage the activities of, multiple civil and military intelligence agencies in Pakistan.
Rao spent a significant portion of his career as an officer in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), eventually becoming its Director. Though apolitical, he refused to become an approver in the case against Bhutto by Martial Law authorities led by then Army Chief General Zia-ul-Haq. He was consequently jailed on multiple occasions during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Known Academic History: Masters in Economics from Aligarh Muslim University.
Known Professional History:-
Lecturer at Government College Montgomery (Sahiwal)
Under-Training officer at Police Training College Sardah, erstwhile East Pakistan (1951-53)
Assistant Superintendent of Police, Lahore (1954-1956)
Superintendent of Police, Kalat (1956-57)
Inspector General of Police, Azad Jammu & Kashmir (1957-61)
Senior Superintendent of Police, Rawalpindi (1961-64)
IB posting in Rawalpindi (1964-65)
IB posting in Karachi (1965-67)
IB deputation in London, UK (1967-71)
Deputy Director IB in Peshawar where he was also looking at affairs in Afghanistan and Central Asia (1971-72)
Deputy Inspector General of Special Branch Karachi; during this term he once also visited Kabul, Afghanistan (1972-73)
Inspector General of Special Police Establishment, precursor to the Federal Investigation Agency (1973-74)
Inspector General of Police in Punjab (1974-76)
Special Secretary in Bhutto's NIB (1976-77)
Director/ Director General IB (1977)
Miscellaneous:-
Dr Mubashar Hasan, Finance Minister in Bhutto’s cabinet, says that Rao worked with him in unearthing various rackets involved in arms smuggling, illegal custody of foreign exchange, and tax evasion
Post-retirement Adviser to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Establishment and member of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Central Working Committee (1988)
Post-retirement Secretary General of Murtaza Bhutto's PPP-SB Party
Rao was generally reputed as an impartial and upright officer, possessing the rare ability to speak truth to power.
References
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, 'If I Am Assassinated'
Amjad Mahmood, 'Ex-IGP Dies of Cardiac Arrest', Dawn, https://www.dawn.com/news/274858/ex-igp-dies-of-cardiac-arrest
Rao Abdur Rasheed, 'Jo Maine Dekha (What I Saw)'
Rafi Raza 'Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Pakistan 1967-1977'