TAXILA: The district administration on Sunday finalised a foolproof security plan to maintain law and order during Ashura under which over 2,500 policemen would be deployed and troops would remain on standby to cope with any untoward incident.

These views were expressed by Deputy Commissioner Attock Rao Atif Raza while talking to newsmen on Sundayafter visiting various procession routes that had been declared very sensitive.

He said 28 Muharram processions, out of a total of 145, had been declared highly sensitive and placed in category ‘A’, 25 were declared less sensitive and placed in category ‘B’ whereas 92 processions were included in category ‘C’.

He said out of 754 majalis in the district, 181 were included in category ‘A’ with high sensitivity, 30 in ‘B’ and 544 were placed in category ‘C’.

Responding to a question, Mr Rao said 754 majalis, including 66 in Attock, 70 in Hassanabdal, 173 in Fatehjang, 325 in Pindigheb and 120 in Jand, would be held across Attock district while 145 Zuljinnah processions, including 29 licensed and 116 traditional processions, would be taken out from 87 imambargahs.

The deputy commissioner said organisers had been asked to deploy volunteers at the entry points of majalis and processions and search participants with metal detectors and walkthrough gates.

He said police and other law enforcement agencies would keep a check on the movement of religious extremists, proclaimed offenders and outlaws.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2024