Chehlum security: 24 Punjab districts declared sensitive

Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera presides over a meeting in this regard

LAHORE:

Twenty-four districts, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Jhang have been declared sensitive for the occasion of Imam Hussain’s (RA) chehlum.

Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera presided over a meeting in this regard.

A police officer who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media that more than 110,000 policemen would perform security duties across Punjab. They will include 79,000 district police men, 9,700 Elite Force personnel, 16,000 police volunteers and 12,000 special branch officers.

The Army and the Rangers will remain on standby.

Walkthrough gates will be placed on the routes of the chehlum processions. A four-tier security system will be set up.

Undercover policemen will make video footage of the processions.

The SHOs of 712 police stations will ensure the security of the imambargahs and patrol the routes of the chehlum processions.

The DPOs in the sensitive districts will remain in touch with the monitoring cell established at the IGP’s office.

Lahore

Around 5,000 policemen will be deployed in Lahore for the main procession. The streets and roads leading to the route will be blocked with barbed wire.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2014.