Million-man march: FC squad called to maintain security

Federal govt calls upon FC deployed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The federal government has called upon Peshawar’s Frontier Constabulary (FC) platoons to Islamabad, in an effort to control the security situation in the capital during Minhajul Quran International’s (MQI) million-man long march, Express News reported Friday.

The long march is scheduled for January 14.

Earlier, a petition had been filed in the Peshawar High Court (PHC), requesting for the 150 platoons to be returned to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, after the security situation worsened in the province.

On November 6, 2012, the deputy interior secretary had told the PHC that the platoons deployed in Karachi, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan would be returned to K-P.

Interior ministry officials claimed the government had decided to pull out police personnel from sensitive areas to deploy them in Islamabad and Rawalpindi in efforts to provide foolproof security to residents during the long march. Over 8,000 policemen have been asked to be on high alert in case of an emergency, the officials added.

Government servants have also been directed to stay away from the long march.