Peshawar sealed, online monitoring system installed

PESHAWAR: The inner parts of the provincial capital have been sealed and an online monitoring system was installed for keeping an eye on suspicious movement near the routes of the Ashura processions during the last three days of Muharram. The security was upgraded for Muharram after threats that terrorists are planning to carry out attacks on the Ashura processions.
Two suspected militants were arrested in Phase-VII in Hayatabad here while a huge quantity of explosives was recovered in Charsadda. Six suicide jackets, explosives and maps of Muharram processions were seized in Peshawar last week.
“For the first time, a system has been installed for the online monitoring of the Ashura processions,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Mian Saeed Ahmad told The News. He added that 110 closed-circuit television cameras had been installed to keep an eye on the movement of suspicious elements in the city. Mian Saeed Ahmad said that 20 platoons of the Frontier Constabulary would remain at standby to intervene in case of need. The SSP Operations said 110 online cameras are 24 hours monitoring more than 60 sensitive points inside walled city and cantt circles areas.
“Eight operators are recording and watching monitoring system under my direct supervision round-the-clock. Any loopholes and laxity is directly communicated through wireless transmission and ensured that they are fixed,” added Mian Saeed.
The deputy city police chief continued that one in-charge sub-inspector has already been suspended for poorly supervising the guard duties.Peshawar, Kohat, Hangu and Dera Ismail Khan have been declared most sensitive from the security point of view during Muharram.
Around 7,500 personnel of the police and other law-enforcement and security agencies have been deployed all over Peshawar to maintain peace and order during Muharram. The checking at the entry points has been increased while search and strike operations have been accelerated.
According to an official, 218 suspects were held during search operations in the city and suburban areas on Wednesday. They included 95 Afghan refugees and 82 tenants, who were not registered at the local police station.
An official of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said they received a tip-off that three militants were entering Peshawar from Khyber Agency via Hayatabad town.
He said that following the tip-off, vigilance was enhanced and two militants were arrested in Hayatabad. The official said that an accomplice of the detained men escaped to Khyber Agency.
The official said that two improvised explosive devices, two hand-grenades, wireless sets, and pistols were also recovered from the accused, whose names weren’t disclosed.
According to the official, the detained men including one from Khyber Agency and another from Peshawar belonged to the ring that carried out the attack on the Imamia Mosque in Hayatabad earlier this year.
The attack, which was carried out during Friday prayers, had left 23 worshippers dead and scores of others wounded. “The arrested men are involved in the killing of three members of the Shia community in Hayatabad,” the official added.
He said the accused were also responsible for the bomb attack on the vehicle of an army major, the killing of two senior cops working as station house officers and demanding and collecting extortion money from local industrialists and well-off people.