PHOTO: AFP
FAISALABAD: A threatening note chalked along a wall of Chak 241-RB Chanchal Singh Wala Government Girls’ High School, caused a wave of panic and fear among the village residents on Sunday. It said: “we will blow up this school with a bomb if it opens on January 26”.
Thikriwala SHO Ghulam Asghar told The Express Tribune that they had received a complaint from the Headmistress Qurratul Ain about a note. She told the police that students, parents, teachers and neighbours were in uproar over the message. She requested the police to provide the school security.
SHO Asghar said that they had registered a case under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against unidentified militants. He said that they had also constituted a special team to trace out the culprits responsible for the wall chalking.
“The police are on high alert.” The SHO said that a police contingent had been deployed in and around the school area. They have been told to keep a vigilant check on every person walking near the school.
Despite reassurances from the police, several residents claimed that they were scared. A large number of them said that they would not send their children to school on January 26.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Abdul Lateef, a resident of Chak 241-RB Chanchal Singh Wala, said that terrorists had turned their attentions particularly towards children in the aftermath of Operation Zarb-i-Azb. “They attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar, they attacked the Bacha Khan University in Charsada and now they’re coming after our children,” he said.
He said a large number of villagers will not send their children to school on January 26. “We’re scared,” he said. “The government must take note of such incidents and provide fool proof security to our children.”
Assurance: We will keep all schools safe, DPO says
Securing all public schools and educational institutes in the province is the Police Department’s top priority at the moment, DPO Sarfraz Ahmad Falki said in a meeting with sub-divisional police officers of Bahawalpur district on Sunday. “Children are the future of our country and we will keep them safe at every cost.”
He told the SDPOs to increase the duration and frequency of police patrols at educational institutes and told the SHOs to carry out spot checks at schools in their jurisdictions and inspect safety measures at the institutes.
“All SDPOs and SHOs should be present during search operations at schools…we must work to improve the performance of police officials,” he said. DPO Falki directed the police officers to also visit check-posts set up at the entrances to the city and check whether SOPs were being followed. He said new patrol beats should be issued to officials and effective patrolling must be ensured.
The DPO also issued instructions regarding the implementation of the law banning child labour in brick kilns in the province. He said the SDPOs must take the lead in the crackdown against brick kilns where children were still employed. He said the police had so far registered 20 cases against brick kiln owners found violating the Child Labour Ordinance. He said they had arrested 35 suspects in this regard and had recovered 25 children.
He urged the policemen to speed up measures to arrest wanted criminals in the district. He said the process of submitting challans in courts must also be expedited.
Issuing instructions regarding a recent wave of vehicle snatching, DPO Falki directed the Saddar Circle and City Circle SDPOs to trace those involved in the crimes and to put them behind bars.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2016.
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