RAWALPINDI, June 17: The Islamabad police, during an operation on Thursday, removed black papers, shades and curtains from the vehicles of at least 42 parliamentarians and parliamentary secretaries.

The parliamentarians, against whom the action has been taken, include members of ruling and opposition parties as well as some federal ministers. A police official said the parliamentarians using vehicles with tinted glasses, shades and curtains had been warned by the traffic police 48 hours before the action was taken.

The operation was carried out at the parking lot of the Parliament House under the supervision of SP traffic Zubair Hashmi. However, later interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat also joined the traffic staff and appreciated the police move.

The lawmakers, who had been violating the ban on tinted glasses, included information minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakhtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party's parliamentary leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Senator Mushahid Hussain, Humayun Akhtar, Kashmala Tariq, Liaquat Jatoi, Mushtaq Ali Cheema, Rana Tariq, Mehdi Bhatti, Chaudhry Amir Nazeer, Sardar Alam, Senator Ishaq Dar, Nisar Hussain and Aftab Ahmed.

Opposition leader Maulana Fazalur Rehman, and water and power minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao were also among those violating the ban, the police authorities said.

The ICT traffic police have removed black papers from 200 vehicles during the last two days. "Islamabad police are on high alert because of terrorist threats. And we will be using a whole range of tactics to deal with all possible threats," a senior police official said.