PESHAWAR: The police have deployed a large contingent at the Civil Secretariat in the provincial capital to foil a possible protest by the Provincial Civil Service (PCS/PMS) officers.

A senior PCS officer was denied entry to the premises on Wednesday.

Hundreds of PCS/PMS officers had observed strike for around two weeks in last May.

They mostly staged demonstrations at the sprawling lawns of the Civil Secretariat.

Following the strike, the KP chief minister had formed a five members committee to look into the provincial officers’ grievances.

And on last Friday, he had approved the committee’s four-page report in which all demands of the PCS/PMS officers were accepted.

The relevant officials insisted the police deployment had taken place on Monday, while on Tuesday, a large number of police personnel were seen resting in the veranda of the law and parliamentary affairs department premises.

They added that on Wednesday, the number of police personnel increased, while a large police contingent was deployed at the finance department building.

Senior officer denied entry to premises

According to them, police personnel were deployed in front of the establishment and administration department premises, too, while a prison van was parked close to the Civil Secretariat Gate No 4 next to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority offices.

A senior police official told Dawn that the police were deployed at the Civil Secretariat at the request of the home secretary.

“The home secretary had written a letter to the inspector general of police few days ago asking for the police personnel’s deployment,” he said.

A senior government official requesting anonymity said the police personnel deputed at the Civil Secretariat gates had been provided with photos of the PCS officers active in the protest and were given instructions to bar them from entering the premises.

A leader of the protesting PCS officers, Muntazir Khan, who remained active during the May protest, was not allowed to enter the Civil Secretariat by the police personnel on Wednesday.

When contacted, Mr. Muntazir, who is currently an officer on special duty, said the PCS officers were scheduled to meet the establishment secretary to discuss the provincial officers’ demands.

“When I tried to enter the secretariat through its main gate, the police personnel stopped me saying I’m not allowed to go inside,” he said.

The officer however said he later managed to enter the premises via the nearby gate of the home and tribal affairs department after much haggling with the police personnel.

“I was sitting in the office of a home department official when two police officers came asking about me,” he said.

Mr. Muntazir said when he came out of the office, he saw some 25 policemen wait for him outside and then the police officers told him that the DSP secretariat wanted to see him. “The DSP asked me to follow him up to the main gate. On reaching there, he told me that I was not allowed to go inside the secretariat,” he said.

The officer said the police personnel even did not allow him to stand near the gate and told him to wait inside his vehicle until they showed him the written order barring him from entry. He however said after a wait of around 10 minutes, a policeman came to tell him that there was no written order banning his entry from the secretariat and thereafter, he returned home.

Mr. Muntazir said stringent security measures at the secretariat showed that high-ups were not serious about implementing the cabinet committee’s recommendations through they’re approved by the chief minister.

“It all shows they are not following the cabinet committee’s orders,” he added.

An official of the administration department requesting anonymity told Dawn that the police’s contingents had been deployed at the secretariat following the Special Branch’s reports of possible disturbance by the PCS/PMS officers.

He said in order to prevent such situation, the police personnel had been deployed on the secretariat premises since Monday.

The official said the deployment would last until future reports suggested end of the possibility of disturbance.

He expressed ignorance when asked about the denial of the Civil Secretariat entry to Mr. Muntazir and insisted the ‘people with legitimate business’ were allowed to enter the premises.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2016