Law and order: Mock anti-terrorism exercise follows Thursday’s operations

12 suspects arrested in combing operation at PU and areas surrounding Railway Station

LAHORE: As many as 12 suspects were taken into custody in a combing operation carried out following the intelligence report about the possibility of an attack in the city.

The operation was carried out at both campuses of the Punjab University and areas in the vicinity of City and Mughalpura Railway Stations. The suspects have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

On Friday, the police held a mock anti-terrorism operation at the Punjab University. They said response time and coordination among different forces were tested at the exercise held at the PU’s Earth and Environmental Department.  They said the purpose of the exercise was to improve coordination among the agencies responsible for maintenance of law and order and increasing awareness among students, teachers and staff of the university about the procedure to deal with any untoward incident.

It was led by Allama Iqbal Town DSP Rana Muhammad Iqbal. Teams from the Lahore police, the Quick Response Force, the Counter Terrorism Department, the Bomb Disposal Squad and PU security guards participated in the exercise.

The operation featured evacuation, elimination of targets and evidence collection. The teams practiced activities like entering a building in situation during or following a terrorist attack, evacuating civilians and eliminating/arresting targets and preserving the crime scene and collecting evidence.

On Thursday night, a flag march was held at the Punjab University jointly by the Mujahid Force and the Elite Squad. Security was beefed up at both campuses after the search operation. Shahzeb Khan, a faculty member, said it had taken him an hour to reach the Psychology Department building from the main gate.

On Thursday, a search operation at the City railway station had lasted for three hours. A heavy contingent of police was deployed in the area and everyone entering and leaving the premises was checked. No vehicles were allowed to enter the parking area at the station during the operation.

Operations DIG Haider Ashraf said teams were conducting search operations on a daily basis. These operations had so far been carried out in areas surrounding Chinese installations, in settlements with Afghan refugee populations, hotels, hostels and inns. He said police teams had been directed to check particulars of the suspects through android phones and biometric devices.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2016.