RAWALPINDI: The principal of a private school on Wednesday received an anonymous phone call from a person threatening to blow up her school.

A large number of private schools across the country have been shut down indefinitely following a terrorist attack on Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16.

The secondary school which is located in the populated People’s Colony in the Race Course area received the threatening call on its landline phone at about 9:45 am.

The caller did not identify himself, when talking to the school’s principal, Ms Shahida Malik, and told her that her school would be attacked and blown up in a terrorist attack in the next few days.

After receiving the call, she immediately contacted the police and later registered a complaint with the Race Course police.

The police said that efforts were being made to track down the caller.

While the police are not ruling out the possibility of it being an act of mischief by one of the school’s students, they said that in the current law and order situation the call cannot be ignored.

The police have actively started patrolling the area around the school.

The Regional Police Officer, Rawalpindi, Akhtar Umar Hayat Laleka, told Dawn that the administrators of all schools in the garrison city have been directed to make arrangements for their own security by hiring guards, raising walls and installing heavy iron gates.

He said a security plan had been chalked out for all schools located in Rawalpindi division and schools have also been offered a “special training course” for security guards.

“The private guards will be given a one week training in firing by experts from the police department,” the RPO said.

He added that the Quick Response Force (QRF) squads will be deployed in areas where a large number of schools are located.

However schools which fail to follow the security guidelines will be sealed by the police, the RPO added.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2014