Government lift curfew in Rawalpindi

Government lift curfew in Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI: Government has lifted the curfew from violence-hit Rawalpindi and Section 144 of Criminal Penal Code (CrPC) will stay in force as a precautionary measure until further orders.

The Rawalpindi administration had decided that Section 144 will continue to be imposed in the city.

This decision was taken in a meeting chaired by DCO Sajid Zafar Dull.The city remained under curfew for two days which had crippled routine life creating a scarcity of food and other essential goods. The army, Rangers and other law enforcement agencies would remain on high alert to handle any untoward situation.

According to the Ministry of Interior, all the markets will re-open on Monday. However, it added that the security forces will continue to stay in the affected parts of the city to maintain peace.

The government had earlier announced to relax the curfew from 7:30 PM till 12 midnight.

Funeral prayers of three persons killed in the Rawalpindi incident was offered at Liaquat Bagh. Maulna Samiul Haq led the prayers.

Defying the curfew that entered into the second day today, a large number of people came out to hold the funeral prayers for the deceased. The security forces did try to put barricades in the way of the funeral procession and also resorted to aerial firing but the people kept on marching to hold the prayers.

Realizing the sensitivity of the situation, the administration at last allowed the people to hold the funeral prayers.

Strict security remained in place during the funeral prayers which was attended by a big crowd of people.

At the conclusion of the funeral prayers, the attendees dispersed peacefully on the call of Ulema present on the occasion.

The deceased were among nine people who lost their lives in sectarian clashes that erupted on the occasion of Yaum-e-Ashur in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday.

Army was called in and curfew was declared to quell the unrest.

A judicial commission, headed by Lahore High Court (LHC) Judge Justice Mamoon Rashid Shaikh, has been formed to investigate into the deadly incident.

Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif constituted a high-level Fact Finding Committee on the Rawalpindi tragedy which occurred on Ashura day, triggering violence and forcing the administration to impose curfew for two days with a little respite of three hours at night. The government had already constituted a judicial commission under the chair of LHC judge Justice Mamoon Hussain.

Former chairman Chief Minister’s Inspection Team Najam Saeed will be the convener of the committee and Prosecution Secretary Nadeem Irshad Kiyani and Additional IG Investigation Muhammad Amlesh will be members of the committee.

The committee will point out any administrative and security lapse and negligence with regard to the tragic incident. The committee will also identify those responsible for dereliction of duty or laxity and propose measures for checking such incidents in the future and submit its report to the chief minister within seven days.