The city police on Thursday started confiscating containers and heavy vehicles to use them for blocking the roads leading to the federal capital and cordoning off Red Zone ahead of 'Azadi March' of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) scheduled for August 14.
A police official said that subsequent to the directives of district administration, the police had impounded containers from GT Road and placed them at the entry points of the city. The official said that police had been tasked to confiscate hundreds of containers in the next two or three days to ensure blocking of all entry points of the city ahead of Azadi March.
Transporters said that the confiscations of containers and other heavy vehicles would not only badly affect their business but also cause troubles for importers, exporters as well as trade activities in the country. The official said that the city administration and police expected the participation of a large number of people in the Azadi March, which required making proper arrangements to avoid any untoward situation. He said that 5,000 police personnel from Azad Kashmir and Punjab had been called in to help Islamabad police for the maintenance of law and order on the occasion.
Well-placed sources said that officials of Capital Development Authority (CDA) had started removing banners related to Azadi March from roads, poles and streets. The CDA spokesman Asim Kichi rejected reports about removing banners and said that only those banners were being removed displayed illegally and without permission of the department concerned.