LAHORE: To ensure protection of believers during the last Ashra of Ramzan-ul-Mubarak, the Punjab police’s Special Branch with the assistance of administration of concerned mosques and imambargahs will verify credentials of people intending to sit on Itikaf across Punjab.

While issuing instructions to the supervisory officers ahead of the last Ashra, Punjab IGP Rao Sardar Ali has directed to strictly enforce ban on proscribed outfits colleting Zakat and other donations. He called upon the officers to formulate a special security plan and collect data of all citizens intending to sit on Itikaf in public places.

He said that a close coordination should be maintained with the administration of mosques and imambargahs for the identification of miscreants and security of the believers. He said that special measures should be taken for the security of ‘Taak Raat’, especially Laylat-ul-Qadr gatherings, and lady personnel should also be deployed for the security of women worshipers at sensitive worship places.

The IG police further instructed to install walkthrough gates at main entrances of sensitive mosques and imambargahs and citizens should not be allowed to enter without proper frisking. He said the security arrangements for mosques, imambargahs and other public places should be more elaborate than that of made last year in Ramadan.

According to Rao, effective patrolling and blockade should be placed by increasing the number of patrolling teams around sensitive mosques and imambargahs. He instructed the senior officers to go out in the field and review security arrangements and make necessary arrangements for backup of CCTV monitoring and video recordings for the security of worshipers in major mosques and imambargahs.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022