ISLAMABAD: The local administration of the federal capital territory has started flexing muscles ahead of PTI’s Long March and placed hundreds of containers at different entry and exit points across the city.
Residents of the twin cities woke up Thursday morning to notice hundreds of containers placed at Faizabad Interchange. Sources told MM News that the interchange would be completely sealed as soon as the Long March schedule was announced.
Besides Faizabad, containers have also been placed at the greenbelt of Murree Road and Express Highway areas. Police sources said these approaches towards Islamabad too would be completely sealed if political rallies were announced.
On orders of the federal interior ministry, an estimated 1100 containers have been arranged by the local administration to seal the capital territory. The federal government has plans to shut down academic institutions as well and postpone scheduled exams in the wake of PTI’s Long March.
MM News has learnt that around 25,000 additional force equipped with some 50,000 rubber bullets would be provided to Islamabad Police, while over 60,000 tear gas shells have already been provided.
The Islamabad police would use drones to fire tear gas shells at the marching protesters, while for the first time, anti-riot police would use helicopter to disperse the crowd.
It has also been learnt that security agencies have prepared lists of PTI’s financers who would face arrests as soon as the Long March begins, and Bani Gala would be declared Sub-jail to put Imran Khan under house arrest should he announces his campaign from his residence.
The Pakistan Tehree-e-Insaf, on the other hand, has kept its Long March plan a complete secret and hasn’t shared any details with anyone including the media. Party leaders said only a few leaders at the top hierarchy had knowledge of the actual Long March plan which, according to them, would come as a surprise to the federal government.
It may be recalled that Imran Khan had stated during a recent public gathering that he knew everything about the federal government’s plans to counter Long March, but the Islamabad administration had no knowledge about PTI’s future political maneuvers.
