RAWALPINDI: Five days after the flag of militant Islamic State (IS) group was seen in Islam­abad and a day after chalking of a local banned sectarian outfit cropped up on electric poles in the strictly guarded Pakistan Ordi­nance Factory area of Wah, graffiti of ‘Daesh’ — Arabic acronym for the IS — was noticed on a traffic signboard in the Wah area on Friday, police sources said.

After the IS flag app­eared in the capital, panic gripped law enforcement agencies and political circles were equally concer­ned. On Monday the flag was removed and an FIR was registered by police under the terrorism law.

On Thursday chalking of the proscribed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was seen on electric poles in the Wah Cantt area, to be followed by the appearance of graffiti of ‘Daesh’ on a traffic signboard on Budho Road near Muhallah Sadiqueabad in the same area.

A senior police official of Rawalpindi said that an investigation had been launched after the registration of the FIR about the SSP chalking. Police would initiate legal action over Friday’s Daesh graffiti also, he added.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2017