ISLAMABAD: Around 22,000 law enforcement officials from various cities have been recalled and containers will be placed at key points to counter the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) call for a public gathering on November 30. The move comes after the expiry of the presidential ordinance under which the army was deployed to guard key installations in the capital. The boots are now marching back to the barracks.
Senior Superintendent of Islamabad Police (SSP) Operations Asmatullah Junejo said that around 22,000 Rangers, Frontier Constabulary (FC), Punjab and Azad Kashmir police personnel have been recalled and around 100 containers will be placed at 72 key points in an effort to keep the Red Zone secure. “The Red Zone and the [Islamabad] Expressway are of prime importance and will be secured,” he said.
The SSP said that the reinforcements will be deployed before November 28, adding that the riot control officials have also been recalled as they were given special training before the PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) rallies in August.
“Rangers and FC have already arrived in the capital,” he added. A senior police official, requesting anonymity, revealed that the Margalla area needed to be swept as several suspects were detained based on information provided by security agencies.
When asked if pillion riding will be banned and mobile service suspended, the official said both items came up in a meeting with the interior minister, who opposed them. “The interior minister was meticulous in the preparation for the rally day. He doesn’t like public suffering.”
Besides the deployment of law enforcement officials, the government is also busy devising a counterstrategy that would use a presidential ordinance to bar protesters from setting foot inside the Red Zone.
The draft of the ordinance The Establishment and Regulation of High Security Zone, 2014 is being given the final touches at the Law Ministry, but police officials felt it was unlikely to be expressed that it was unlikely to be in force before the rally date. “I don’t expect it to get promulgated before November 30,” said one official.
Internews
