ISLAMABAD: Police on Friday arrested six private security guards, detailed at two different high commissions, on charges of providing information to the diplomats about missing persons, police said.
Sources said police official deputed at the Parade Avenue spotted the security guards talking to missing persons’ families and then making calls through mobile phone.
Their interaction with the protestors and making call to someone alerted the police and they mounted vigilance on them and found them involved in monitoring the protesters, and some of them collecting information from them.
During the vigilance it was also found that they shared the information with someone on phone.
After hours’ long surveillance, the police approached them and interrogated them for their activities which had got more suspicious. However, they failed to satisfy them.
Later the police took them in their custody and shifted them to Secretariat Police Station along with two vehicles.
During interrogation, they identified themselves as Orangzaib, Saeed Ahmed, Abdul Qayyum, and said deployed at Canadian High Commission and Munawar Hussain, Wazir Hussain and Ghazanfar Ali, at Australian High Commission.
They told the police that they were deputed at Parade Ground by the diplomats as part of security arrangements for the houses under the use of high commissions located outside the diplomatic enclave.They admitted that they were providing information to the diplomats regarding missing persons and their future strategy.
A senior police officer told Dawn that they have decided to draw the attention of the Foreign Office towards the involvement and interest of the two high commissions in the missing persons’ issue.
The police would soon approach the Foreign Office in writing to seek necessary action in this regard, he said.
Meanwhile, another police officer said that an official of one of the missions came to the Secretariat police to inquire about the fate of the security guards and status of the case.
Quoting the official he said the guards had been deployed by the high commissions to gather information regarding security situation on the roads so that diplomats could move smoothly.
However, later the police registered a case against them under PPC 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and PPC 124-A (sedition). —Munawer Azeem
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