- Security remains a major cause of concern
After a two-month disruption following the attack in which nine people were killed and amid security concerns, Peshawar’s Agricultural Training Institute—renamed as Agriculture Services Academy— will resume its academic activities from February 6 (Tuesday).
“The institute will reopen on Tuesday,” confirmed a notification issued by Principal Zulfiqar Ali.
However, the security situation of the institute still remains bleak.
A local English daily reported that the institution had hired three former service personnel and bought four shotguns, but the provincial authorities were not issuing permits for those guns.
However, the institute will apply for licences.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Department had denied their request for the issuance of automatic weapons, after which the institute approached the office of Commissioner Peshawar which referred the application to the police department.
The application is pending approval by the police department. Moreover, the government has also failed to tighten the security arrangement at the institute that includes installation of CCTV cameras, building a protection wall particularly.
The security of the institute was one of the major reasons behind the increase in death toll as at the time of the attack, the institute had only six watchmen and no properly trained security guard.
Police had conducted a security audit of the premises on December 20 soon, after the incident, in which the security setup was marked below satisfactory and several recommendations were made to enhance the security apparatus.
