HYDERABAD Jan 31: Commuters and residents of the Defence area suffered inconvenience here on Monday as the entire Cantonment area remained under massive security cordon due to President General Pervez Musharraf's stay in the Hyderabad garrison for the night.

Since morning there was heavy deployment of police and Rangers on the routes leading to the Hyderabad garrison- in Qasim Chowk, Liaquat Road and the Defence area, etc. Liaquat Road, which runs parallel to the Hyderabad garrison, was closed for traffic.

Barbed wires and barricades were placed by police and Rangers to stop vehicles. Residents of the Defence area and Civil Lines had to take alternative routes to reach homes. However, residents said that there was no ban on their movement in the area.

A large contingent of police manning roads in the Cantonment area subjected motorists and motorcyclists to body search on Liaquat Road and at the main entrance to the Combined Military Hospital. Policemen removed tinted glasses from cars on Liaquat Road.

Police were deployed on roof tops of the Federal Government Degree College in Saddar area where the main roads leading to the CMH were heavily manned and patrolled by police and Rangers. According to the Isra hospital staff, a section of the Hyderabad bypass was kept closed.