ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Wednesday said the criminals involved in violence against police and other institutions would be given an exemplary punishment.

The state had never been blackmailed by such thugs and would never be, he said in a series of tweets.

The minister said in democracy, different groups were allowed to have their own points of view, but no one could blackmail the government by force.

Fawad said the police and other law enforcement agencies were pride of the nation.

All over the world, the uniformed people were considered a symbol of the state's honour and it was obligatory on every citizen to protect their (police) protection honour and dignity.

Those who had violated that principle, he said,were national criminals and should be treated as such.

The minister said traffic on all the major highways across the country continued.