RAWALPINDI: Special duties have been assigned to the police ahead of the two-day visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to Pakistan.

All police leaves have been cancelled and Rawalpindi will be on high alert over the weekend. The police have been directed to establish five checkpoints in the limits of each police station.

The police have launched a search and comb operation around Nur Khan Airbase.

The search and comb operation at Nur Khan Airbase was started at 5am Thursday morning and was still ongoing late at night. The police have been conducting door-to-door searches, collecting data on residents and combing the green areas around the airbase.

Special duties have been assigned to the police and all officials have been directed to report to concerned officials for their special assignments.

A senior police official told Dawn the police have sought 10 sections of Elite Force commandos from the inspector general of police Punjab to assist local police in arranging foolproof security for the prince’s visit over the weekend.

The prince is expected to travel by helicopter from the airbase to Prime Minister House though alternate land routes will also be fully secured by law enforcement and guarded by an unspecified number of armed police units.

The city traffic police have chalked out a traffic plan and the old Airport Road will be closed to all types of traffic when the prince arrives and 100 traffic wardens will be deployed to direct traffic onto alternate routes.

The police have been making sure that all Fourth Schedulers are at home and are under strict watch. Guest houses and private hostels are being checked in the twin cities.

A spokesperson for the police said Elite Force commandos will be deployed on rooftops of important buildings and sensitive points.

He said people have been asked to keep their CNIC and other identification documents with them when moving about the city as more security checks will be conducted at pickets.

“The security measures will be unprecedented,” a senior police official said.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2019