ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: The metro bus service was suspended across the twin cities for two hours on Tuesday in response to an alleged threat to target a bus stop or vehicle.

An Islamabad police officer told Dawn the twin cities’ police forces were on alert in their respective jurisdictions after they were informed of a terrorist threat. During this period, all the vehicles on bus routes were halted and depots, bus stops and the service routes were placed under the custody of law enforcement.

However, the Rawalpindi police have claimed the response was a mock exercise conducted as part of security preparations for the metro bus service.

The police officer said the Rawalpindi city police officer (CPO) contacted the inspector general of police (IGP) Islamabad Tuesday afternoon with information regarding activity to sabotage the bus service.

Rawalpindi police say response was a ‘mock exercise’ for which passengers were evacuated, metro bus vehicles, stations were emptied and searched

The IGP was asked to launch search and combing operations at stops, depots and buses as well as rescue operations to vacate all the passengers and staff from these areas as soon as possible.

In Rawalpindi, hundreds of commuters were evacuated from buses, ticket counters were closed, elevators were switched off and passengers were asked to leave the bus bays at around 2pm.

Students were seen shouting at fellow commuters who were just entering bus stations in Saddar to go back because the service had been suspended.

When a metro bus service official was asked why the service was suspended, he said the bus service was suspended “due to a terror threat” and that he “cannot say when it will resume”.

Detailing the police’s response in Islamabad, the Islamabad police officer said that once rescue and emergency departments and all the police wings had been alerted, station house officers were told to get to metro stops in their limits and place them under their custody, along with buses moving on their routes.

Police vacated all the stops, depots and buses and took positions on the routes and stops to safeguard the public, the officer said. The bomb disposal squad and search teams with sniffer dogs were at the depot for the operation as well.

On-route vehicles were also brought to the H-9 depot to be searched, he added.

“It took more than two hours to comb all 14 bus stops, from Pak Secretariat to Faizabad, as well as the 14-kilometre route,” the officer said, adding that the service resumed once it was declared safe.

Another senior police officer said this was the first time the Islamabad police and its wing covered such a large area in response to a threat. The police’s response time in dealing with such a situation was found to be satisfactory, he added.

Rawalpindi CPO Abbas Ahsan, on the other hand, said the police activity was a mock exercise to check the preparedness of civil departments including the police, emergency services and bomb disposal experts.

In Rawalpindi, more than 200 from the police, bomb disposal experts, ambulance services, and other aid services participated, but no scenario was played out in which terrorists attacked the bus service.

Mr Ahsan said the ‘exercise’ would be analysed “to check shortcomings, if there were any”. He added that generally everything was found satisfactory with regards to the handling of emergency situations.

Mr Ahsan said the police in the twin cities were in close contact and prepared to handle any untoward situation.

Another security official said there was no specific intelligence indicating a terrorist attack on the metro bus service, but law enforcement agencies are on alert round the clock.

Senior Superintendent of Police Operations Abdul Qadir Qamar told Dawn the drill aimed to check counter-terrorism awareness, enhance contingency plans, observe the public response and train metro bus staff.

He said it lasted 30 minutes, and the bus service resumed after it was declared ‘OK’.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2018