PESHAWAR, June 27: Alarmed by the recent attacks on police, the law enforcers in the provincial metropolis have started further fortifying their installations by placing sand bags and constructing walls around them.

Most of the police stations have become 'no go areas' for common people owing to extra security measures.

“Policemen are supposed to follow directives of their high-ups to shut the gates of police stations and police lines, whenever they wish, even on the journalists,” said a source.

Sand bag piles around police stations have grown thicker and higher since the recent wave of attacks on police in different parts of the country. In Hayatabad, Gulberg, Gulbahar, West Cantonment and Yakatoot and several other areas of Peshawar the police fortifications have encroached on roads, obstructing smooth flow of traffic.

Safety walls started rising around police stations after terrorist attacks on a compound of CID at University Road, the Manzoor Shaheed Checkpost at Peshtakhara, the Riaz Shaheed Checkpost at Sarband and policemen and volunteers at Matani Bazaar.

In Peshawar, majority of the government buildings including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, MPAs Hostel, Civil Secretariat and Fata Secretariat have been fortified. Even roads are closed whenever police deem it fit in the name of security.

Many police personnel have been killed and scores of others injured in militancy-related incidents in the province, particularly in Peshawar.

“The destruction of CID compound station and Badhber police station shows that terrorists can manage to hit their target despite all security arrangements,” an observer said.

The investigators are still unable to say clearly as to how the explosive-laden vehicle entered such a sensitive area and targeted the building.

In the suburban areas, police posts are more vulnerable to militant attacks. Militants fire rockets from remote areas to target police posts, mostly at night, in the suburban areas of Peshawar.

A police spokesman Jalal Khan, when contacted, said that all police stations protected with the help of safety walls and no terrorist could enter the main buildings as security guards were fully alert round the clock.

However, he said, to stop entry of suicide bombers was a difficult task and one would have to put one's life at stake for the purpose. In the entire province only the building of East Cantonment police station is bomb proof.

Referring to the Kolachi police station attack, the spokesman said that in Peshawar there was no such building where militants could easily enter.

“Although security measures are necessary, yet they have caused difficulties for people to move easily,” a resident said.