Election security: Plainclothes guards can’t carry guns

The CPO also directed police to launch a search in hotels, restaurants and hostels to check for suspicious people.

FAISALABAD: Candidates in the general elections will not be allowed to keep security guards dressed in plain clothes with them during canvassing. They would also have to obtain permission prior to holding corner meetings, police said on Wednesday. Spokesperson Sub Inspector Ameer Nasir Javed said that City Police Officer (CPO) Riffat Mukhtar Raja, during a meeting held to review security arrangements in the city, took notice of candidates flanked by security guards dressed in plain clothes. “If security guards wearing plain clothes instead of uniforms displayed weapons, police would take action against them and the candidate,” he said. The CPO had also directed police to launch a search in hotels, restaurants and hostels to check for suspicious people.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2013.