Claim: Dr Anoosh Masood has been appointed as the first female Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab.
Fact: The claim is false.
On 3 August 2026, a Facebook account named بورے والا پوچھتا ہے shared an image of a Pakistani police officer, Dr Anoosh Masood, and claimed that she has become the first female Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab.
The caption reads:
“پنجاب کی پہلی خاتون آئی جی پنجاب ڈاکٹر انوش مسعود تعینات”
“Dr Anoosh Masood appointed as Punjab’s first female Inspector General.”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first conducted a keyword search “punjab police appoints first female IGP” to see if any credible publications have reported on the development. The search led to two articles by Pakistan Today, dated 30 July 2026, and The Nation, dated 31 July 2026, which reported on Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expressing her desire to see a woman appointed as the next IGP Punjab. She did not announce the appointment of one.
Nawaz made the remarks during her address to the passing-out parade of Lady Recruit Course-18 at the Police Training College, Chung. The coverage of her complete address was also posted on the YouTube channels of Hum News, 24 News HD and Suno News HD on 30 July 2026 where she can be heard asking the current IGP Punjab to pave the way for the first female IGP at the timestamps of 8:57-9:18, 28:14-28:36 and 7:21-7:44, respectively.
Since the CM only voiced her hope for a female IGP in Punjab rather than announcing the appointment of one, Soch Fact Check spoke to a source in the Central Police Office, Punjab to confirm if Masood or any other female police officer has been appointed as the new IGP Punjab.
The source, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the news is fake and Abdul Kareem is still serving as IGP Punjab. We also visited Punjab Police’s website that mentioned Kareem as the incumbent IGP, who has been serving from “03-02-2026 to date”.
Punjab Police’s website mentions Abdul Kareem as its IGP, not Dr Anoosh Masood.
Moreover, the anonymous source also specified that Dr Anoosh Masood is currently serving as SSP Motor Transport, Punjab. Soch Fact Check found an online notification available on the website of Establishment Division, Islamabad which stated the same. The document, dated 24 January 2025, which listed the names of officers that had been approved for a four-week domain specific training course, mentioned Masood as SSP Motor Transport, Punjab.
Dr Anoosh Masood is mentioned as SSP Motor Transport, Punjab in a notification by Establishment Division dated 24 January 2025.
Based on the absence of news reports on the appointment of Punjab’s first female IGP, the direct comment from a source in CPO, Punjab, and the available evidence on official government websites, Soch Fact Check confirms that the claim is false. Dr Anoosh Masood has not been appointed as Punjab’s IGP.
Virality
Soch Fact Check first came across a viral post on Facebook with as many as 758 likes and 51 shares. The claim was circulated further on the platform via different posts where it gained 1,800 and 887 likes separately.
Conclusion: Dr Anoosh Masood has not been appointed the first female IGP Punjab. According to publicly available evidence, Abdul Kareem is currently serving in the role whereas Masood is working as SSP Motor Transport, Punjab.
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