Mohammad Izhar Alam

Mohammad Izhar Alam (4 August 1948 – 6 July 2021) was the director general of police of the state of Punjab. According to a paper released from the US Embassy in New Delhi on 19 December 2005, during Alam's tenure as the head of the state police, he is reported to have fostered a combat force called "Fauj-e-Alam" (Alam's Army), composed of around 150 dismissed police officials and reformed Sikh insurgents, to work alongside the Punjab police ranks. The force is alleged to have been engaged in torture and extrajudicial killings of insurgents from 1984 to 1994. He also entered politics and attempted to contest the 2012 assembly elections from Malerkotla constituency on Akali Dal ticket, but withdrew when he faced opposition from a faction of the party. replaced him in the elections and was successful. The government of India awarded Alam the fourth-highest civilian honour, Padma Shri, in 1987.