‘Unblockable’ Ashraf: Roadblock removal begins, but one makes quick return

Police remove blockades, but one outside Pervez Ashraf’s house restored hours later.

ISLAMABAD:

The capital police on Saturday started removing  road blockades which had been placed without permission.

But in Sector F-8/4, the blockades outside former PPP prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s house had been restored barely three hours after being removed by the Margalla police.

The restoration was apparently on the orders of Saddar Superintendent of Police (SP), Mohammad Ilyas.

On February 5, the Supreme Court had directed CDA Chairman Maroof Afzal to remove all illegal blockades from different streets of the capital and to submitted a detailed report before the court on Feb 9.

Margalla police officials, requesting not to be named, told The Express Tribune that the blockades were restored upon directions from their bosses, specifically SP Ilyas and Station House Officer (SHO) Rukshar Medhi.

They said that at around 11am, they removed barriers from different areas which fall in their jurisdiction, including Ashraf’s house in Street 62, Sector F-8/4. But at around 3pm they were asked to restore the blockade outside Ashraf’s house. “They did not tell us why, but what can we do. We are bound to follow the orders of senior officers,” they remarked.

On the other hand, Saddar SP Mohammad Ilyas claimed that he did not order his subordinates to restore the blockade, nor did he receive pressure from the former premier or any other quarter. When told that police officials from the local police station had said that the orders came from his office, he said, “Let me check and I will explain what happened.”

SHO Rukshar Medhi insisted that the blockades were still in place. He claimed that the Margalla police had removed blockades from 32 points which falls in their jurisdiction, which included the one outside Ashraf’s house.

Repeated attempts were made to contact Ashaf vias telephone and text message, however, he did not respond.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2015.