PESHAWAR: Fear and panic gripped people here on Thursday following a bomb hoax at the commercial Dil Jan Khan and FC plazas and rumours of a possible suicide attack on Frontier Constabulary headquarters.

Following the information, the entire area was cordoned off by the FC and police personnel and shopkeepers and automobile mechanics immediately pulled down their shutters and left the area at around 9:30am. The vendors were seen pushing their handcarts in haste.

The Dil Jan Plaza, FC Plaza, FC headquarters and FC petrol station are located along the main road, opposite to the Deans Commercial Plaza. The FC Plaza also houses several private and government offices, including a bank.

The security officials were seen checking suspected vehicles and pedestrians in the area around the FC headquarters till late evening.

The filling station was also closed for several hours due to fear of an attack and a large number of FC and police personnel remained alert there to avert any untoward incident.

The security measures caused severe traffic problems on busy Sher Shah Suri Road and most of the public transport was diverted to the link roads. Checking of vehicles also continued on Kohat Road and near the Civil Quarters.

An official said that there was information about entry of an explosive-laden mini-truck into the limits of Peshawar and their possible target was the FC headquarters. He said that police were alert to protect lives and properties of the people.

During the past one week several messages about three would-be suicide bombers are circulating. The police believe that one of the bombers had exploded himself at the Khyber Super Market, but it could not be confirmed.

“We have information about the entry of bombers from the tribal region, but we don’t know about their target,” a source said.

Another official said that shopkeepers had been asked to avoid coming to their workplaces today (on Friday) due to the prevailing situation.

“The shops usually remain closed on Friday, but we have asked the people to avoid taking the risk,” he said while pleading his anonymity.

When contacted, Cantonment Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Khalid Hamdani confirmed that there was information about a possible attempt, but said the situation was under control and police were regularly checking suspected people.

He said that there was no information about any specific threat to a particular building.