RAWALPINDI, Jan 6: Law enforcers are hunting for a stolen police pick-up truck amid fears that the vehicle might be rigged with explosives to carry out a bombing in the twin cities as Muharram reaches its climax, officials said on Tuesday.
The untraceable blue-coloured pickup was lifted from Lahore last month, the officials said on condition of anonymity.
Originally, the truck carried registration plates reading LEG-1408, but authorities believe they would have been changed to avoid detection.
The police suspect that a teenaged boy could be used by the militant elements to steer the single-cabin vehicle into a crowded mourning procession. The officials said police suspicions were based on intelligence reports.
They added that as part of the hunt, the police had been placed on high alert in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, where pickups of the same description were particularly being checked.
“Policemen have been directed to stop the single-cabin police vans at a considerable distance from the pickets,” the officials said.
Meanwhile, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Nasir Khan Durrani ordered sweeping of Muharram procession routes by bomb disposal squads.
RPO Durrani directed all district police officers to ensure through their staff that no person stood on the rooftop of houses and buildings along the procession routes.
Nearly 6,000 police were being deployed to provide security cover to the main processions, while Rangers and Army personnel will also be on standby to cope with any emergency situation.
All the station house officers had been instructed to get a pledge in writing from building owners that they would not allow any stranger to stay at their places.
Special Branch has also been instructed to install walk-through gates at points leading into the processions.
Security clearance of the people distributing Niaz and Langar must also be carried out by the Special Branch personnel.
Chief Traffic Officer Rawalpindi Raja Riffat Mukhtar had been directed to issue a traffic diversion plan and ensure the smooth flow of traffic during the processions.
On Muharram 10, five processions to be taken out from different locations will converge at Naya Mohallah Chowk. The senior police officers in the Rawalpindi region had been asked to brief the personnel properly before their deployment. A close liaison with the peace committees has also been stressed
In order to check any sabotage, all district administrations, especially the one in Rawalpindi, had been directed to establish check posts at entry points.
A special team comprising traffic, anti car-lifting cell and district police has also been constituted to check the vehicles plying in the Rawalpindi city.