Islamabad attack: Police skipped security meeting, says district bar chief

Naseer Kayani says sessions judge called the meeting last week.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad administration and police were unable to attend a meeting with the sessions judge last week in order to finalise security arrangements for the courts and local katchery, according to district bar president Naseer Kayani.

Speaking with the Express Investigation Cell, Kayani said the city police chief and police personnel were engaged in the provision of security at a cricket match attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

“Had the Islamabad administration and police performed their duties in a professional manner, Monday’s act of terror in the centre of the capital could have been thwarted and 12 lives saved,” he said.

The district bar president said media reports had indicated the possibility of an imminent threat of an attack in Islamabad and the bar had called for foolproof security for courts, lawyers and their clients. He added that the district bar will move a case against the police and administration for their ‘failure to perform their duties’. He also demanded that the prime minister take action against those who were unable to counter the attack at the court on Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2014.