ISLAMABAD: Security around the heavily guarded Diplomatic Enclave has been further strengthened with the installation of an electric fence around it, Dawn has learnt.

The police department has already alerted the security personnel to avoid the fence and ensure that no other person also come close to avoid possible harm to them.

A source in the police told Dawn on Wednesday that work on the installation of the electric fence around Diplomatic Enclave was completed recently and he even claimed that the fence would go live at 9am on Thursday (today).

When contacted, a spokesman for the police, however, said the electric fence had been installed “over the security wall but it is not active yet.”

Police personnel directed to stay away from ‘live wires’, prevent others from coming near it

“As preventive measure, an auto alarm system has been installed and a safe city system-powered integrated control room has also been operationalised at Security Division HQ in Diplomatic Enclave where representatives of all LEAs are also present for security of high security zone,” he added.

Sources in the police said the officials and personnel deployed for security duties in and around the area had been asked to remain extra careful and avoid the fence. The officials were further asked to keep an eye on the movement of other people and ensure they also do not come close to the fence. All the supervisory police officers deployed at Diplomatic Enclave have also been directed to brief their subordinates and personnel working under them about the electric fence. The senior officers have also been asked to brief the personnel about precautionary measures in case of a mishap.

Earlier, Diplomatic Enclave only had a boundary wall that needed repair on a regular basis and the sources stated that its height was not upto a satisfactory level.

A survey conducted in 2014 to detect flaws in the security arrangements for Diplomatic Enclave had recommended raising the height of the wall and installing an electric fence around it, as the walls of the enclave were not high enough to guard against intruders.

The expansive nature of the area makes it difficult to provide complete protection to the diplomats and embassies within the Enclave since it was accessible from several sides, and there is a dense forest area between Srinagar Highway and the Enclave, which is frequented by scavengers and locals who visit it for firewood.

The Diplomatic Enclave is bordered on one side by the Prime Minister’s House. A water collection point near Gate 9 of the Prime Minister House opens that area up for people from Bari Imam. To the north, a nullah runs from the Narola village and Muslim Colony, through the Enclave, which could also be a potential security risk.

The Diplomatic Enclave has six gates, and two of them — Gate No 1 and Gate No 6 — had been closed for a long time, the sources said, adding that Gates No 2, 3, 4, and 5 were in use for entry and exit. Gate No 2, located in front of the Foreign Office, and Gate No 4 on Third Avenue were also closed for some time due to security concerns, they added.

A senior police officer told Dawn that the theft incidents had been reported in Diplomatc Enclave many times. Last year, he said, thieves stole communication cables from police offices situated in the area.

However, the theft of the National Telecom Corporation's copper cables came to light only after three telephone lines of the SSP security office turned dead, the officer said.

Upon a complaint by the SSP security, an engineer and a technician visited the field area to inquire about the fault and found 50 pairs of telephone underground copper cables stolen near the Tiger Block police office inside the Diplomatic Enclave. After the theft, a case was registered at the Secretariat Police Station against unidentified persons, he added.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024