Britain’s most senior Muslim police officer, who leads the Metropolitan police community outreach programme, is stepping down, sparking complaints by colleagues that he should have been promoted.
The news that Commander Mak Chishty had resigned prompted a senior anti-terrorism official to say: “He should have been promoted to deputy assistant commissioner a long time ago.”
Police insiders who have worked with Chishty, 49, said he was “seriously underestimated”.
After 31 years’ service he is eligible for retirement, but his departure in June will bring into question Scotland Yard’s strategy on relations with British Muslims.
An intelligence source, who has worked with Chishty on anti-extremism operations, said: “The Met has lost the main interlocutor with the Muslim communities both in London and nationally at a time when the relationship between the Islamic communities and the police and security services is most crucial.”
Chishty, a vocal opponent of extremist ideology, led the vigil for the victims of the Westminster attack last month, in which five people were killed.
Another insider said: “There is no one else at the Met or in any police force in the country who can get the support of Muslim communities across the spectrum.”
Chishty, who was born in Birmingham, served in Warwickshire police before joining the Met six years ago. He could not be reached for comment this weekend.