Mohammad Izhar Alam (4 August 1948 – 6 July 2021)[1] was the director general of police of the state of Punjab.[2] 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),[3] composed of around 150 dismissed police officials and reformed Sikh insurgents, to work alongside the Punjab police ranks.[4] The force is alleged to have been engaged in torture and extrajudicial killings of insurgents from 1984 to 1994.[4]
After superannuation from the police force, Alam became the chairman of the Wakf Board, the state unit of the Central Wakf Council.[5] He also entered politics and attempted to contest the 2012 assembly elections from Malerkotla constituency on Akali Dal ticket,[6] but withdrew when he faced opposition from a faction of the party.[5] Farzana Nissara Khatoon, his wife,[7] replaced him in the elections and was successful.[8] The government of India awarded Alam the fourth-highest civilian honour, Padma Shri, in 1987.[9]
