Punjab 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 �Bharatiya Janata Party 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 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.