Punjab [ Images ] Director General of Police N P S Aulakh has been appointed as the new chief of the elite National Security Guards and will assume charge on March 1.

Aulakh, a 1972-batch officer of the Indian Police Service, will replace J K Dutta who is retiring on Saturday, official sources said on Friday.

He was appointed the Punjab DGP in March 2007 after the formation of Shiromani Akali Dal [ Images ] –Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] combine government in the state. Aulakh is to retire in August 2010.

Aulakh has served as Deputy Inspector General of the Border Security Force in Kashmir [ Images ] and also as additional Director General (West) in the BSF.

The Punjab government had forwarded his name for the central deputation recently. It received a communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday, the sources said.