RAWALPINDI, March 31: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has warned the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal against trying to force traders to go on a shutter-down strike or attempting to jam traffic on April 2. The violators would be booked under the Anti-Terrorist Act, he said while talking to reporters at the passing-out parade of the 22nd batch of recruits at the police lines headquarters in Islamabad on Thursday. Mr Sherpao said: “Whoever tried to force traders and transporters to go on strike would be arrested under the ATA and would be tried in anti-terrorism courts.”
He said those creating law and order situation and disrupting business activities would be dealt with iron hands. He assured the traders and transporters that the government would provide security to them and expressed the hope that the traders would ignore the strike call. The minister said the MMA’s recent protest rallies had failed and the April 2 strike call would also meet the same fate.
He said under the leadership of General Pervez Musharraf, the economy was taking off and the growth rate had risen to 7 per cent during the last five years. Addressing the participants of the parade, the minister said the 2,000 recruits — Super Eagle Squad — comprising 100 police commandos had been formed for the security of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
The minister also granted permission for construction of academic and administration blocks comprising 10 rooms each and five barracks at the police lines. He said he would direct the Capital Development Authority to repair the dilapidated roads of the police headquarters.
Earlier, IGP Talat Mehmood Tariq said the training of 1,181 police recruits was part of the government’s plan to revamp the Islamabad police. Out of the recruits, 475 have been trained at the anti- terrorist training school, Simly Dam, while the 636 male and 70 female recruits completed their six-month training at the Islamabad police training school.
The official said recruitment on the 2,000 sanctioned seats had been made purely on merit. He said half of the 2,000 recruits would be deployed in the security division. He said due to lack of proper building, the 600 police personnel had been under training at the Frontier Constabulary training centre, which cost Rs10.3 million.
The minister distributed trophies among the position holders and also awarded Quaid-i-Azam police medal to the widow of constable Tanweer. AIG Shahid Nadeem Baloch, SSP special branch Rao Mohammad Iqbal, SP investigation Ehsan Saddiq, SP headquarters Sultan Azam Taimuri and other police officials were also present.