Not so ‘Safe Islamabad’!

• Security beefed up at district courts in Islamabad with walk through metal detectors, CCTV monitoring and increased deployment of security staff but a lot more is yet to be done
• Security personnel deployed at the gates are under-equipped; ladies and lawyers are not searched before entering, while the walk-through metal detectors stand useless during poor outages 

The gun and twin suicide attack that occurred at the district court in Islamabad’s sector F-8 on March 3, 2014 which claimed 11 lives, including that of an additional districts and sessions judge forced the Islamabad administration to improve security arrangements but many holes still need to be plugged to ensure foolproof security of the premises, Pakistan Today has observed.

Islamabad district courts are situated in one of the busiest commercial areas of the city and are visited by around 5,000 to 6,000 people per day. There are six entry points connected to different parts of the sector.

After the March 3 incident, security at the courts was beefed up and the number of policemen deployed at the gates was increased, besides deployment of Special Branch and Civil Defence personnel.

Walk-through metal detectors and closed circuit television camera (CCTV) cameras were also installed but Pakistan Today has observed that there are certain lapses in the security which have been overlooked by the administration.

In the absence of electricity, the walk-through metal detectors cannot work and due to the frequent power cuts these days, the detectors are non-functional for at least three hours during court timings.

SECURITY OFFICIALS ILL EQUIPPED: Security personnel at the gates are not equipped with any manual metal-detectors, to be used as back-up during power cuts.

Policemen guarding the gates are poorly equipped. Only one out of the four policemen deployed at the gates carries a rifle, which would be insufficient in case an incident like the March 3 episode is repeated.

Even when functional, the walk-through metal detectors are not a precise equipment to detect sophisticated weapons or explosives.

Moreover, three out of six metal detectors have been out of order over the past one week, with the security of the premises depending on manual search and one manual metal detector possessed by officials of the Special Branch.

LAWYERS ABOVE THE LAW: It is important to mention here that not all people entering through these gates are searched by the duty staff. Many of the lawyers, particularly, do not like to be searched. The security staff does not insist on searching them either due to fear.

LADIES ARE EXCUSED: There is no proper mechanism available for the search of women who come to the courts. There is one lady constable deployed at each entry point but they can only search the hand bags of the women and body search is not possible due to the absence of a search room for women.

Talking to Pakistan Today, an officer on duty agreed that there are loopholes in the security which need to be addressed.

TWO CCTV MONITORING ROOMS SET UP: He said that two control rooms for CCTV monitoring have been set up in the courts; one control room is attached with the office of district and sessions judge while the other is operated by police officials.

According to the officer, an assistant superintendent of Police (ASP) and station house officer (SHO) visit the control rooms daily.

MORE TO BE DONE: In light of the present situation and past events, the Islamabad administration needs to take certain urgent steps to avoid any untoward incident in the future.

Power generators should be installed to keep the walk-through metal detectors running during power cuts. Additionally, scanners, like those installed at airports should be installed at gates to minimise the entry of explosives or weapons into the court premises.

The number of police personnel and gunmen deployed should be increased and a search room for women should be erected near each entry point.

Every person entering the premises must be searched and the administration should reach out to the District Bar Association for help in this regard.

It is ironic that despite all the talk of ‘Safe Islamabad’, such glaring loopholes exist in the security of key premises like the district courts. It is hoped that these shortcomings will be taken care of by the administration so as to make their claim of ‘Safe Islamabad’ more credible and realistic.