In a strange move, the Islamabad Police have allowed the deployment of private security guards of Shifa International Hospital at a security checkpost established outside the hospital, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The two way H/8 Service Road South has also been turned into one-way road by the Shifa hospital administration and local police, creating hardship for commuters. According to details, two weeks ago, the Islamabad police established a security checkpost outside Shifa Hospital and converted the road into a one-way road. But instead of Islamabad Police personnel manning the checkpost, private security guards are checking vehicles and issuing hospital parking tickets, whereas blockades placed at the spot belong to Industrial Area Police Station.
Under what legal cover? This has raised questions over the legal cover that allows private guards to stop people at city police barricades. Despite the fact that the road is the property of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and was made for citizens, private guards are restricting commuters’ access to the road. The said service road connects sector H/8 to the Islamabad Highway. Commuters must now cover Pitras Bukhari Road, Sahibzada Abdul Qayum Road and Mir Chakkar Khan Road to reach the Jaffar Khan Jamali Road and then move onto the Islamabad Highway instead directly accessing the highway using the Service Road South.
‘Security guards allow favourites through’: The use of the road for one-way traffic has also added to commuters’ difficulties. “We have to cover at least one kilometer extra to reach the Islamabad Highway” said Taxi driver Jibran Ameen. He alleged that security guards allowed favourite drivers to use the road both ways but restricted access for others.
Recently, the CDA also took boards, inscribed with one-way warnings, into their custody but, according to nearby shopkeepers, Islamabad Police got the boards back from the civic body and installed them on the road. The hospital administration has also begun developing a parking area on the green belt with the CDA turning a blind eye to the matter. “CDA took action against them but they started work on parking lot using their influence,” said Ali, a local.
‘Because VIPS visit Shifa’: However, the hospital administration and Islamabad police have claimed that the traffic mess in front of the hospital’s emergency gate was the reason they turned the road into a one-way. Contradicting the claims, a Shifa Hospital official told Pakistan Today that the measure was taken because VIPs frequented the hospital. “The traffic in front of the hospital was damaging the hospital’s image for VIPS due to which the decision to restrict access for common use was taken,” the official said.
He pointed out that former minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti was also shifted to Shifa after he was fatally injured. ‘We asked the police, they consented’: Talking to Pakistan Today, Shifa International Hospital spokesman Azmatullah Qureshi said the traffic jams had become routine before the hospital’s security department requested police to facilitate them. He said city police accepted their demand and acted upon their request to convert the road into a one-way and establish a security checkpost.
Asked about the parking space on the green belt, Qureshi said that car thefts had increased after which the hospital was forced to develop their own ‘safe’ parking for staff and visitors. When asked why private hospital guards had been deployed at the security checkpost instead police personnel, Qureshi replied, “We made the offer to police to deploy our own guards and police accepted it.”
Upon visiting the checkpost, Pakistan Today observed only two private guards checking vehicles and issuing parking tickets to visitors in scorching heat. No police personnel accompanied them. One of the security guards, seeking anonymity, told PT that police personnel never stood with them at the checkpost, preferred to sit in their cars or in air-conditioned rooms for hospital security staff. I/9 Police Station House Officer (SHO) Rukhsar Mehdi told Pakistan Today that police was working in coordination with private guards.
“Police personnel are deployed at the security checkpost and assist private guards in every manner,” he claimed. He said the hospital administration took every step after coordinating with police.
Can private guards man a public road?
