GUJRAT: The local authorities have started making arrangements to block the bridges on the rivers Chenab and Jhelum within the limits of Gujrat district for the participants in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) long march on Islamabad.
Scores of heavy vehicles have been parked near the Chenab and Jhelum bridges, while the National Highways and Motorways Police (NH&MP) officials are busy stopping others, mainly those being used for goods transport, at various locations in the district.
Moreover, sand is also being filled in sacks in front of the bridges on both rivers to use these for blocking the road.
However, local administration and police sources say that this time trenches may not be dug up near the crucial bridges on both rivers, as was done to counter the ‘long marches’ staged by the banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in the past.
LEAs see ‘thin chances’ of party managing to put up a formidable march on GT Road
They add that given the already enforced strict measures and raids being conducted on the houses of the main PTI leaders in the region, there are very thin chances of the party workers’ convoys from Lahore and Gujranwala regions passing from the GT Road to reach Islamabad.
They say that though the arrangements have been made, the complete blockade of bridges may not be enforced till Thursday (today).
Though NH&MP officials are stopping heavy vehicles at the barricades set up at various locations on the GT Road towards Islamabad, private cars, rickshaws and mini trucks are being allowed to cross the Chenab and Jhelum bridges.
On the other hand, local PTI sources claim that despite house raids, the police could nab only a few party workers as most of them had already gone into hiding to avoid arrest.
Despite the recent tour of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to Gujrat, Sialkot, Wazirabad and Jhelum districts to mobilise the party supporters and workers for participation in the long march, no considerable mobilisation was witnessed in these areas.
Local PTI circles attribute this lack of visible political activity to the strict security measures and the government’s “harsh” policy towards the party, especially in Punjab.
A senior official of a law enforcement agency (LEA) told Dawn that the situation is being closely monitored in the region and the actual blockade of the bridges on the two rivers will depend on the movement and strength of the PTI convoys. He claimed that not even a single police contingent has so far been deployed at the bridges or other crucial spots.
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