ISLAMABAD: On the directives of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the capital police are all set to launch an operation against suspected people, possible militant hideouts and other criminals at Bhara Kahu soon.

It may be noted that at a meeting with police officers at the Punjab House on August 28, the interior minister ordered a crackdown on suspected people in the areas of Bhara Kahu, Sabzi Mandi and Tarnol.

A police officer on the condition of anonymity told Dawn that intelligence and vigilance had been mounted in different localities of the capital city, including Bhara Kahu, during Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s visit to Pakistan on November 14 and 15, 2014.”

Joint teams of police and other law enforcement agencies to launch operation on interior minister’s direction

During the two-day visit, thousands of phone calls were made from the capital, mostly from Bhara Kahu, to Afghanistan related to the visiting president, he added.

“It was suspected that someone in Afghanistan was being updated about the movement of the Afghan president,” he added.

The police officer said seven localities had been identified by the joint core teams of the police and intelligence agencies at Bhara Kahu which would be the main target of the crackdown. The areas will be cordoned off before the operation and the 18 exit and entry points of Bhara Kahu would be partially sealed to avoid the escape of any suspect, he added.

All the houses will be searched and scanned which may take a couple of days, he said, adding Rangers, teams of intelligence agencies and officials of Nadra would also participate in the operation to verify the identification of the residents.

After the 2005 earthquake, the population of Bhara Kahu saw a marked increase followed by an exodus of the internally-displaced people after the military operation against militants in the tribal areas. The officer believed that a number of militants disguised as IDPs reached the capital from the tribal areas and started living at Bhara Kahu.

“It is also suspected that they are hosting militants and suspects coming from other parts of the city,” the officer said. “Murree is the safest and preferred route for such suspects and militants to enter Islamabad and these people are either hiding at Bhara Kahu or moving to other parts of the country from here.”

A report jointly prepared by the special branches of the Islamabad and Rawalpindi police in early 2014 stated that a large number of people from North and South Waziristan migrated from their native areas after the military operation there.

Well-trained terrorists and their leaders and commanders also travelled to hilly areas, including Abbottabad, Kakul, Nathiagali and Murree in the disguise of ordinary people. They used to take shelter in seminaries and planned terror activities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, it added.

In November 2013, Nasiruddin Haqqani, the elder son of Jalaluddin Haqqani of the Haqqani network, was murdered by unidentified people in a market at Bhara Kahu. Though the incident was reported to the capital police, there is still no official confirmation either of the presence of Nasiruddin Haqqani or his killing in the capital.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2015

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