RAWALPINDI: Senior police officials and the civil administrations of Rawalpindi and Attock were unable to decide the jurisdiction of the new Islamabad International Airport.

A police post will be established at the airport where police personnel from Rawalpindi and Attock will be posted as 75pc of the airport lies in the limits of the Kutbal police station in Attock and the rest in the limits of the Naseerabad police station in Rawalpindi.

According to a senior police official, it has been agreed in principal that the new airport will fall under the jurisdiction of the Rawalpindi police till after the 2018 general elections.

Regional Police Officer Rawalpindi Mohammad Wisal Fakhar Sultan Raja, district police officer Attock and commissioner Rawalpindi on Wednesday visited the new airport to decide the jurisdiction.

“When an incident occurs in the limits of the Attock district, the Attock police will deal with it and vice versa,” a senior police official said.

Police pickets will be established on the airport road after it is formally opened for flights on May 3 and a Special Branch office will also be established. However, Airport Security Force will have the responsibility of the internal security of the airport.

Advisor to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Khan also discussed the issue of establishing a police post at the airport during his last meeting at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

He had said the security mechanism should be based on the latest technology and to ensure that passenger checking is hassle-free.

A Civil Aviation Authority media coordinator said the issue of the airport’s police jurisdiction has been taken up with the Punjab Home Department.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2018