ICT police security staff, Punjab personnel sent for Gilgit-Baltistan election duty

RAWALPINDI: Alongside 6,000 Punjab police personnel, 150 officials from the security division of Islamabad Capital Territory police have been assigned to election duty in Gilgit-Baltistan, where general elections are scheduled for Sunday.

The 150 Islamabad police personnel were selected from units normally deployed on sensitive assignments in the federal capital, including protection of key state buildings and escort duties for foreign delegations. They are due to leave for Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday under tight security arrangements and are expected to return to Islamabad on June 9.

Of the 150 ICT personnel, 30 have been taken from the Special Protection Unit, five from the President’s House, 20 from the Prime Minister’s House, six from the Prime Minister’s Office, 10 from Foreign Office guard duty and 10 from the high-security zone. The security division of Islamabad police is responsible for guarding several important installations, including the President’s House, PM House, PMO, National Assembly, Police Lines, SSG Lines and the District Judicial Complex. Its SPU is also assigned to Chinese nationals.

Meanwhile, Punjab police convoys started departing from Rawalpindi and Lahore on Tuesday for election security duties in Gilgit-Baltistan. The movement was being carried out with armed police escorts and Rescue 1122 ambulances accompanying the convoys.

Punjab deployment and convoy arrangements

A directive issued by the additional inspector general operations stated: "The deployed escort will not leave the convoy without handing it over to another district’s escort."

A convoy of 18 buses carrying 1,028 personnel of the Punjab Highway Patrol left Police Lines Headquarters Rawalpindi for Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday. The Punjab police chief directed Rawalpindi City Police Officer Syed Khalid Hamdani, the Lahore capital city police officer, regional police officers of Gujranwala, Sheikhupura and Sargodha, and district police chiefs to ensure security for the convoys travelling to the region.

In line with the directions, four armed police personnel are to travel with each bus. More than 100 buses, including pick-up vans, have been arranged to transport the force. Of these, 48 buses and four pickups are to carry 2,348 Punjab Highway Patrol personnel to Gilgit-Baltistan. Motor transport officers at Rawalpindi Police Lines and Punjab Highway Patrol Headquarters Lahore were tasked with briefing drivers on the route and ensuring that only vehicles with fitness certificates were used.

Punjab authorities had first approved the deployment of 5,000 personnel and later cleared another 1,000 for election security in Gilgit-Baltistan. The police personnel are to be equipped with anti-riot gear and seasonal clothing, while each bus will also be accompanied by four armed police personnel.

PPP raises objections

In a related development, PPP Central Information Secretary Nadeem Afzal Chan questioned the deployment of Punjab Police in Gilgit-Baltistan for election duty in a video statement. “The public has many reservations about the Punjab police, which is coming [to GB].”

Chan urged the Punjab police not to adopt the same “attitude” towards the people of Gilgit-Baltistan that, he said, it had shown towards people in Punjab, adding that there was a “huge difference” between the people of the two regions. He said a “federal police or institution” would have been a better option for election oversight than Punjab Police.

He also said it was the responsibility of the Gilgit-Baltistan election commissioner and other stakeholders to ensure “free and fair elections”. Chan maintained that some recent decisions by the GB election commissioner had caused concern among both the public and political parties.

The PPP leader further alleged that federal ministers were campaigning for their parties in Gilgit-Baltistan, in an apparent reference to the defence and planning ministers accompanying PML-N President Nawaz Sharif during his Tuesday visit. He also objected to the issuance of a no-objection certificate to Nawaz Sharif after the election schedule had been announced, asking: “How can you issue an NOC to a government executive once the election schedule has been issued?”