Aziz Toshpulatov replaces Polat Bobojonov as Minister of Internal Affairs

Polat Bobojonov was born on January 1, 1961, in the Khorezm region. He graduated from Tashkent State University in 1982 and began his career in the prosecution bodies of the Khorezm region. Between 1992 and 1999, he held key administrative roles, including first deputy governor of Bogot district and deputy governor of the Khorezm region, before transitioning to the Presidential Administration in 1999.

From 2000 to 2011, Bobojonov served in senior positions within the prosecution system, including as Deputy Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan, Head of the Department under the Prosecutor General’s Office, and Prosecutor of Jizzakh and Bukhara regions. In 2011, he was appointed first deputy governor of the Khorezm region and later became its governor in 2012.

On September 4, 2017, he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs by a presidential decree. Two years later, on September 12, 2019, he was awarded the special rank of Lieutenant General. The reason for his removal has not been disclosed.

Following Bobojonov’s departure, Aziz Toshpulatov has been appointed as the new Minister of Internal Affairs. His candidacy was approved by deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and formalized through a presidential decree.

Born in 1978, Toshpulatov has extensive experience in law enforcement, having held several key positions within the Ministry of Internal Affairs:

• Head of the Namangan Regional Department of Internal Affairs (2015–2017)
• Head of the Samarkand Regional Department of Internal Affairs (2017–2019)
• First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs (2019–2020)

In March 2020, he was appointed head of the Tashkent City Department of Internal Affairs. In January 2021, he was awarded the special rank of Major General by presidential decree.

The appointment of Toshpulatov comes amid a broader shakeup within Uzbekistan’s security structures. In November 2024, several top officials were dismissed or reassigned. The chairman of the State Security Service, Abdusalom Azizov, was removed from his position and replaced by Defense Minister Bahodir Kurbanov. In turn, Shuhrat Kholmukhammedov was appointed as the new Minister of Defense.

These leadership changes have been linked to the assassination attempt on Komil Allamjonov, a former official of the presidential administration. As part of the investigation, several senior law enforcement officials in Tashkent were also dismissed, including:

• Doniyor Toshkhojaev, First Deputy Head of the Tashkent City Department of Internal Affairs
• Ahrorjon Adhamov, Head of the Criminal Investigation Service of the Rapid Response Department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs
• Timur Sobirov, Head of the Organized Crime Unit under the Criminal Investigation Department of the Tashkent City Department of Internal Affairs

Later, Doniyor Toshkhojaev was found guilty of involvement in the assassination attempt and sentenced to seven years in prison.