No roadblocks as Azadi marchers leave for Islamabad

PESHAWAR: No road was blocked by the provincial government as convoys of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and other opposition parties left Peshawar and other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday to participate in the Azadi March in Islamabad.

Heavy contingents of police were deployed in Peshawar and other districts of the province while containers were placed on the roadsides. However, no container was placed to block the roads leading to Islamabad after the government and the opposition leaders on Saturday reached an agreement over various points pertaining to the Azadi March.

Policemen remained on different roads and main points in the city, but the cops didn't make any hurdle in the way of the convoys heading for the federal capital.

The situation was tense till Saturday after heavy contingents of police were deployed in all the districts and containers were placed at main points on the roads so that the convoys of the Azadi March could be blocked upon receiving the green signal from the government. However, the situation didn't reach that point.

"No untoward incident occurred in the provincial capital as the convoys left peacefully," Capital City Police Officer Karim Khan told The News.

Apart from the entry points, cops were also deployed on the Ring Road, Charsadda Road, Kohat Road and other places where the protesters were supposed to gather before leaving for Islamabad to join the Azadi March.

The police in different districts were also imparted anti-riot trainings in recent weeks to deal with protests and sit-ins effectively.

The police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's southern districts, Mardan, Malakand and Hazara regions had also made arrangements to cope with any untoward incident. Sources said that no untoward incident happened in any part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the protesters peacefully left to participate in the Azadi March.

The Traffic Police remained deployed on the main routes to clear roads for traffic when the convoys were passing through the area. After the arrest of JUI-F leader Mufti Kifayatullah, there were rumours that former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and leader of the Rahbar Committee Akram Durrani had been arrested from his residence in Bannu. However, this wasn't true as he led a convoy of protesters from Bannu to Islamabad.

Akram Durrani told reporters that the show on Sunday while leaving for Islamabad was just a 'trailer' as hundreds of thousands of people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would come out on October 31 to participate in the Azadi March.