PESHAWAR, Aug 9: The authorities have beefed up security at public places, especially shopping centres and worship places, to avoid any untoward incident as Eid shopping has gained momentum in the provincial metropolis.
SSP Tahir Ayub Khan told Dawn that more than 6,000 police personnel would remain deployed at different places in shifts to keep vigilance on movement of suspected persons.
“We have also deployed policemen in plain clothes in different bazaars in addition to policewomen to monitor movement of customers and take timely action in case of any possibility of untoward incident,” he said. He added that police patrolling would also be enhanced in the city and Cantonment area.
The SSP said that police had also tightened security at different link roads, continuously checking suspected people and vehicles to ensure peaceful observance of the religious festivity. He said that proper arrangements had also been made around the mosques so that people could observe Aitkaf peacefully.
Another police official of Cantonment Circle said that as Eidul Fitr was drawing near security checking would be increased. It was also possible to ban entry of motorcars and auto-rickshaws in Saddar Bazaar and different streets, he added.
“We had banned movement of vehicles in Saddar Bazaar last year but shopkeepers opposed it, saying that the security plan discouraged customers,” he said.
The official said that for the time being they kept close liaison with the representatives of traders. “In case of any urgency sufficient police personnel will be deployed to avert any possible threat,” he said and added that shopkeepers had also made their own security armaments.
However, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Anjuman-i-Tajiran president Sharafat Ali Mubarak, when contacted, said that security arrangements were not satisfactory as groups of women and children pickpockets were roaming but none of them was arrestedso far.
“The customers, especially women, are very careless when they choose any item. They keep their cellular phone sets and purses on the showcases and criminal elements take advantage of their carelessness,” Mr Mubarak said.
The shopkeepers, he said, had made arrangements on their own where security guards were performing active duty but even then police’s presence was a must. He asked police high-ups to deploy more law enforcers and avoid banning entry of vehicles.
The trader leader suggested that police should further tighten security by checking suspected people. He said that banning entry of vehicles in Saddar would panic customers and they would avoid coming to the bazaar.
He threatened that traders would protest ban on entry of vehicles in Saddar. He also opposed any possible drive of Cantonment Board Peshawar against encroachers and said that the encroachments in front of shops would remain only for few days during the Eid shopping.