Azadi March: Heavy police contingents waiting for green signal to act

PESHAWAR: The police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been waiting for the green signal from the government to block roads leading to Islamabad with containers to stop the participants of Azadi March from reaching the federal capital.

“The force is all set to swing into action once the government issues instruction regarding the march announced by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and supported by other opposition parties,” said a source.

Senior police officials, however, were tight-lipped about their plans for the coming days.

“We will do what the government will order,” said an official at the Central Police Office while requesting anonymity.

Containers have been placed on roadsides in almost all the districts of the province to block the roads leading to Islamabad for the JUI-F marchers once instructions are issued. The cops have been directed to remain alert to erect the hurdles before the march, scheduled for October 31.

According to a source, around 3,200 policemen would be deployed in Peshawar initially while the strength would be increased to over 4,000 as per the need to deal with the protesters. The source maintained that around 2,000 security personnel would move into action if necessary.

“The deployment in this regard is to be started from Sunday. All the cops have been directed not to take any action until and unless anything unlawful is done by the protesters,” the source said, adding more contingents would be arranged from other resources.

Contingents of policemen would be deployed at the entry points to Grand Trunk (GT) Road and Motorway where a large number of containers would be placed. Apart from the entry points, cops would be deployed on the Ring Road, Charsadda Road, Kohat Road and other points where the protesters are likely to gather.

Eight armoured personnel carriers, jail vans, water cannons and units of Quick Response Force and Rapid Response Force would be deployed at important points.

The source said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be disconnected through containers from the rest of the country near River Indus, both on the Motorway and GT Road. The roads linking the southern districts of the province and Hazara with Punjab and Islamabad would also be blocked with containers, the source added. The police in different districts have been imparted anti-riot trainings in recent weeks to deal with protests and sit-ins.

The police in KP’s southern districts, Mardan region, Malakand and Hazara have also made arrangements to block the way of the protesters to Islamabad once the government gives the green signal.