ISLAMABAD, Oct 8: The capital police on Monday night started collecting information about all employees working in key government installations in the high-security Red Zone, including the Parliament Lodges; sources in the police department told Dawn.
The sources said an intelligence report shared with the interior ministry had warned that militants were planning to target the government installations and hotels located in the zone. After the intelligence report, the ministry issued a threat alert to the capital police and other departments concerned on October 6, according to the sources. The alert reached the police on Monday, added sources.
The security alert was also shared with some foreign missions and embassies, including the US embassy, which warned its citizens in the capital city to remain cautious and limit their movements.
The sources said the intelligence report had warned that the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TPP) could target the Diplomatic Enclave, government installations, official residences and the hotels.
There were also reports that the militants had penetrated into the city to carry out terror activities and they may also get help from their ‘accomplices’ in the Red Zone.
In response to the threat alert, the city circle police launched the survey during which all government installations and its official residences would be combed, the sources added.
A senior police officer on the condition of anonymity told Dawn that they had started combing the area and were conducting the survey to collect details about those working in different offices or residing in the government colonies.
“Each and every person living in the colonies or official quarters, including Parliament Lodges, Gulshan-i-Jinnah and the provincial and Kashmir houses, will be checked and their details verified,” he said. Besides, details about the employees’ guests and visitors are also being collected, he added.
A similar survey is underway in Marriott Hotel, Serena Hotel, Holiday Inn, Best Western and Margalla Motel, he added.
On the other hand, a meeting chaired by Faisal Karim Kundi, the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, on Monday decided that no armed guards of MNAs or senators would be allowed into the parliament building. It was also decided that escort vehicles of the parliamentarians and ministers would be parked at D. Chowk.
The entry into the Parliament House would be through special passes issued by the National Assembly Secretariat and that too on the recommendation of the members of the house.
Inspector General of Islamabad Police Bani Amin Khan briefed the meeting about the security arrangements prepared keeping in view the overall law and order situation in the country.
When contacted, the IGP told this reporter that it was a ‘periodical’ meeting held before the start of every session of the assembly. “The law and order situation in Islamabad is under control and there is no serious threat to any key installation in the capital,” he added.
The director of the media wing at the National Assembly Secretariat, Mehboob Ali Gurmani, told Dawn that the measures had been made to avoid rush inside the Parliament House. “There is no need for the gunman to enter the premises as Frontier Constabulary (FC), Rangers and police are already deployed there,” he maintained. He said gunmen and escort vehicles had been barred from entering the building during the last five sessions.
However, sources in the Parliament House said despite the ban, ministers and some of the MNAs still took their guards and escorts inside the building. But the sources added that the gunmen accompanying the legislators did not display their weapons.