Islamabad police have put security on high alert in the city and chalked out comprehensive plan to ensure foolproof security on the occasion of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's rally to be taken out from Punjab House on Wednesday (today).
A senior official of police said that comprehensive security arrangements would be made in the city in order to avert any untoward incident. According to the security plan, 2,500 security personnel of Islamabad police, Frontier Constabulary and Rangers will be deployed on the route of the rally as well as other parts of the city, he added.
He said that policemen in civvies will also be deputed on the route of the rally. The police and bomb disposal squad have also conducted search operations in adjoining areas along the route including parks.
There are rumors that former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif have informed Nawaz Sharif about terror threats. However, when this correspondent contacted National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) Chief Ihsan Ghani, he said that the authority has not issued any threat alert specific to the upcoming rally.
The authorities have issued directives to deploy police and Rangers around all the sensitive buildings in Red Zone including Parliament House, Presidency, Prime Minister Secretariat and Pak-Secretariat. He said that commandoes of Islamabad police, lady police, mobile patrolling units, anti-terrorists squad (ATS), bomb disposal squad (BDS) and personnel of Quick Response Force would also be deputed at different locations. Islamabad police will provide security to the rally till Fiazabad Interchange.
The senior official said as per schedule, the rally will be taken out from Punjab House at 10:00am and it will pass through Express Chowk, Centaurus Chowk and Zero Point to enter Rawalpindi from Fiazabad. The rally will move on Murree Road and from where it will enter the GT Road via Rashid Minhas Road, commonly known as the District Courts square.
Meanwhile, Rawalpindi police have also made extraordinary security arrangements in the city for Nawaz Sharif's rally.
Rawalpindi administration has installed CCTV cameras along the route, while camerapersons have been hired to film the procession in areas without CCTV coverage. "The district administration has installed CCTV cameras from Faizabad to Marir Chowk as well as on Rashid Minhas Road," said a senior official of police.