Sana wants LEAs to be armed to the teeth for PTI's long march

Imran needs to give up his ‘agenda of riots’, says Sana

ISLAMABAD:

Accusing PTI Chairman and former premier Imran Khan of planning to spread chaos, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said that they would request Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the coalition parties to give permission to equip the security personnel with weapons to deal with any untoward situation during the former ruling party’s long march.

The interior minister made these remarks while a addressing news conference in the federal capital.
He asked the PTI chief to shun politics of “agitation” and sit down with the political parties to resolve disputes through dialogue “for the sake of Pakistan”.

“Imran Khan needs to give up his agenda of riots as the country needs consensus at this time and not hypocrisy,” he said.

The security czar claimd that the PTI chairman kicked off his long march started with seven to eight thousand people. “Today there are only five to seven thousand people in the march but a shameless person says a ‘sea of people’ is present in the caravan.”

He said it was the responsibility of the government to maintain law and order and protect the lives of the people.The minister said the government and allied parties had decided to provide tear gas shells and rubber bullets to police personnel and Frontier Constabulary (FC) who would perform duties on front line.

“PTI workers are planning to attack Islamabad with armed groups. Ali Amin Gandapur is bringing weapons to march. We will not allow the rioters and those who spread chaos to enter Islamabad,” he said.

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“After evidences of collecting weapons, ammunition and hiring persons for creating chaos by PTI, a request will be made to the premier and the allied parties for permission to give weapons and ammunition to the security personnel so that they can protect the state, city and themselves from the armed group,” he added.

The interior asked the chief secretaries and IGPs of Punjab and Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa to stand with law and constitution after “clear evidences of planning by a group to assault the federal capital”.

Last week, Sanaullah cast a shadow on the PTI’s long march when he claimed that the former ruling party was busy gathering men and weapons at the borders of the twin cities, planning bloodshed by pitting the people against the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) as he based his assertion on a latest leaked audio recording allegedly featuring its leader Gandapur.

The interior minister also presented an audio clip -- purportedly carrying the conversation of PTI’s former federal minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Gandapur with an unidentified man discussing about the availability of arms, licences and men near the capital’s border -- as evidence of his claim that the party was bringing weapons and troublemakers to the federal capital to create chaos.

He further said the identity of the unknown person had been ascertained but not being disclosed. In the audio recording, a voice, allegedly that of Gandapur, asked the unidentified man about how many guns were there.

The other man responded: “There are many.” Gandapur purportedly further asked: “And licence?” The man replied that there were several licences. He added that there would be as many men as needed.

The ex-minister allegedly told the man that “we are camping here in a nearby colony”, but asked which area was closer to the border of Islamabad-Rawalpindi.