ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: Police in the capital city were seen digging up the greenbelt divider of Luqman Hakeem Road on Friday to make it unusable for the supporters of Dr Tahirul Qadri in their planned march on Islamabad.
Trenches have been dug there as part of a strategy to stop the adventurous among the marchers, finding the main road blocked by containers, from putting their cars on the median to reach the Red Zone for a prolonged sit-in.
The government has offered Tahirul Qadri to hold the rally of his millions at the spacious Fatima Jinnah Park.
However, the police are getting themselves prepared to stop the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran chief in case he tries to enter the Red Zone to stage a sit-in outside the parliament house.
According to sources in the police, the participants of the march would come from the motorway and use Kashmir Highway to reach Zero Point from where they would enter Faisal Avenue and then Nizamuddin Avenue toward the high security area.
They said during protest rallies in the past it had been observed that when containers were used to block main roads the protesters drove their vehicles into the greenbelts to proceed ahead.
To avoid this, the police started digging trenches on Friday morning and by 8:30pm a few kilometres area had been dug up from Ataturk Avenue to Seventh Avenue.
An excavator was engaged in the digging which had been brought to the site from Pirwadhai.
Qaiser Ghani, the operator of the excavator, was reluctant when this reporter asked him about the purpose of his work.
He directed this reporter to talk to policemen watching him.
But when repeatedly asked, he added that he was a labourer and had been sent to the area by a contractor.
“I am digging the earth since morning taking break only for meal and prayer.”
He said since morning two policemen had been keeping an eye on him.
“I get instructions from the policemen about the work and after completion of the job the policemen inform someone on the phone and then ask me to continue digging.”
Two policemen, one ridding a car and the other on a motorcycle, appeared from Seventh Avenue and closely inspected the trench.
Later, they informed someone on the phone and passed on more directives to the operator.
Talking to Dawn, one of the policemen, ASI Mohammad Usman of Kohsar police, said though the area falls in the limits of the Aabpara police the task to dig the trench had been given to the Kohsar police.
“Till night, we have to dig the trench from Ataturk Avenue to Seventh Avenue,” he said, adding more instructions were awaited.
“The police high-ups got instructions from the higher authorities to dig the trench,” another policeman said.
A senior officer said more green areas were likely to be dug in the next two days. An option is also under consideration to dig trenches at Tarnol and I.J. Principal Road, he added.
