Police begin executing post-APS security plan

Officials say decision taken after madrassa bomb attack last week

PESHAWAR:

Days after a bomb attack on a madrassa left at least eight people dead and dozens injured, police in the provincial capital have started to implement a security plan which had originally been devised after the December 2014 terrorist attack on the Army Public School (APS).

The Express Tribune has learnt that the decision to implement the plan was taken in the wake of the bomb attack on the seminary in Dir Colony area of Peshawar.

As a result, police have been put a high alert in several areas of the provincial capital while they have increased their patrolling and snap checking activities.

Under the special plan, additional Station House Officers (SHOs) in all police stations of the city have been directed to hold regular meetings with administrators of religious seminaries, local religious and political leaders, and heads of educational institutions for ensuring security measures.

Moreover, SHOs will be responsible for regularly checking the state of security measures in their respective areas.

Police officers will also be responsible for ensuring that razor wires are installed and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are functional at schools, colleges, hostels, madrassas, prominent mosques, congregation places and residences of high-profile personalities.

The police have been further directed to file cases against those who fail to install security cameras or take adequate security measures for their premises.

Meanwhile, police across the province have been directed to enhance security, especially in the areas where educational institutions are concentrated.

CM directs tighter security

Meanwhile, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed the police to enhance security and improve intelligence system to foil terrorist attacks in the province.

CM Mahmood issued these directives as he presided over a high-level meeting to review the security situation in the province the other day.

The chief minister also ordered to intensify search and intelligence-based operations across the province.

The meeting was briefed about the current security situation in the province and security arrangements to avoid terror attacks in the future.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2020.