Muharram security: 4,000 police officials to be deployed

ISLAMABAD: City administration has decided to deploy more than 4,00 0 police personnel for the security of processions and majalis (religious gatherings) during the month of Muharram. The police would be assisted by the paramilitary troops of Rangers and Frontier Constabulary (FC), said an official on Saturday. He added that the administration had directed the police to make arrangements necessary to provide security to imambargahs. Bomb disposal squads would screen the place before every majlis or procession. Sharp shooters will be deployed on the rooftops near the sites that have been declared sensitive, he added. According to the police official, 177 processions and 900 majalis will be held in the capital during the month of Muharram. Most of them will occur during the first 10 days of the month. The central imambargah in sector G-6, besides the ones in sectors G-9, G-10 and some others, were declared sensitive. No parking of vehicles will be allowed near the sites and all streets leading to the imambargahs will be guarded by the police and volunteers, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2012.