PTI rally: City braces for PTI rally today

Police said Metro Bus should be suspended to ‘prevent damage to buses’

LAHORE:

Security arrangements have been beefed up in the city before Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf’s show of strength at its rally at the Minar-i-Pakistan on Saturday (today), before the race to the final polls begins.

The police have advised the government to shut down the Metro Bus Service (MBS) from 12pm for security reasons, The Express Tribune has learnt.

At a meeting held late on Friday, the operations DIG requested the inspector general police and the home secretary to order the closure of the MBS over security concerns. The Punjab government has been informed about these recommendations, a police official told The Express Tribune. The MBS administration, however, said no instructions regarding the closure of the service had been conveyed to them yet.



Security SP Abdul Ghaffar Qaisrani told The Express Tribune that the bus would not be able to manouvre through the heavy traffic volume on Ravi Road on account of the PTI rally. He added that the police would not be able to keep thousands of people in check and it would be hard to ensure security along the entire stretch of the MBS route. “We have floated the recommendation to stop the service from 12pm onwards to save buses from getting damaged,” he said. “There is a good chance that the government would take our advice,” he said.

Metro Bus Service Operation General Manager Uzair Shah said, “We have not been notified about the closure but the order to shut the service could come at any time.”

PTI Information Secretary Shafqat Mehmood condemned the closure of the Metro Bus and said it was a move to sabotage the PTI’s procession. “Stopping the bus service is equal to rigging elections but our rally will not be affected by cheap tactics,” Mehmood said.



Police have also made arrangements for security for the PTI procession the security SP said. Around 2,000 officials, 35 stations house officers, five DSPs and two SPs would be deployed at the rally venue. Police will supervise three entrances to the venue and cordon off the area with barbed wire. As many as 15 walk-through gates will be installed by police and PTI officials, the SP said.

On Friday the bomb disposal squads checked the venue where around 20,000 seats have been laid.

Parking lots at Guddi ground and Minto Park have been designated for participants at the rally.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2013.