Punjab seals routes as PTI march nears
Seeks Rangers deployment, plans downgrading mobile, internet services
The Punjab government has taken stringent measures to prevent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from conducting a long march towards Islamabad. Several PTI leaders, workers, and relatives of party founder Imran Khan have already been detained by the authorities on various grounds. In response, the government has imposed a 13-day ban on public gatherings, processions, and assemblies of five or more people across the province.
Road closures and restrictions on businesses around Attock and Rawalpindi have also been implemented. Rangers paramilitary forces have been deployed in four districts, and the provincial government has requested the federal Ministry of Interior to suspend or downgrade mobile and internet services in certain areas of Rawalpindi and Attock.
The deployment of Rangers personnel in Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum, and Mianwali until October 5 has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Law and Order, under specific provisions of Pakistan's Constitution and related laws. The PTI has been warned about potential militant attacks on public gatherings, and the government is preparing to close the Lahore-Islamabad motorway ahead of the protest.
Written by urgent.news from The Express Tribune - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
