Act of mischief?: Threatening letter found at a school in City

It appears to be an act of mischief, says Food minister.

LAHORE: Minister Bilal Yasin said on Thursday that the government had been striving to ensure foolproof security at schools.

He was speaking to reporters at the Rajgarh Government Middle Model Girls School. Yasin had arrived at the school after a threatening letter had been found on the premises. He exhorted teachers at the school and ordered security to be beefed up at the institution.

Yasin said the incident appeared to be an act of mischief.

He said police were probing the incident and action would be taken against those responsible for the act.

The minister had been reviewing security arrangements at schools on Thursday when he learned about the development. He said security arrangements had been completed at most educational institutions. Yasin said protective equipment and CCTV cameras had been installed at their entrances. He said provincial assembly members (MPAs) had been reviewing security arrangements at institutions in their constituencies daily.

Gulshan-i-Ravi DSP Ghulam Abbas Rana told The Express Tribune that forensic lab authorities had taken the letter to conduct tests and the police were waiting for the results. He said a search had also been conducted in the area. Rana said the incident appeared to be an act of mischief. The handwriting appeared to be that of a child’s.

A teacher from the school said that the letter had been written to create panic among teachers and students. “Acts like this will not intimidate us,” she said. The teacher said no one could stop students from being educated. “We are not afraid of anti-state elements,” she said.

The teacher said the government and police had been cooperating with the school’s administration.

She said all security arrangements had been completed at the school in accordance with the standard operating procedures devised by the Education Department and the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2015.