E-Paper
Servants can land Musharraf in trouble
Revelations that Pak Prez has a lax security cover, seems to have raised security concerns.
Revelations that Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has a lax security cover, seems to have raised the concerns of the security agencies.
Earlier, it was revealed that Musharraf's convoy was a proverbial 'sitting duck', as it was very easy to make out whether he was travelling in the car or not, whenever he left the Army House in Rawalpindi to the Presidency in Islamabad.
But now, even a breach by servants of the residents living near the Presidential House, can be taken as a ground for crackdown by the security agencies.
The Special Branch of Islamabad Police has started a security survey on the residents of localities that lie between the Army House in Rawalpindi and the Presidency in Islamabad to ensure foolproof security for Musharraf's motorcade.
The police has distributed a questionnaire among the residents, seeking details about the owners of houses, shops and hotels.
The questionnaire includes information about the owner's family members and servants and their religion and sect, the house's structural design including the number of rooms etc, nature of business in case it is commercial and details of cases (if any) registered with police.
"The decision to conduct this security survey has been taken to avoid any terrorist attacks on the President or Prime Minister," the Daily Times quoted officials as saying.
The residents have also been asked to sign a certificate declaring that they will not violate security guidelines.
The owners will have to pledge that they will not allow anyone to "sit unnecessarily" at their houses, shops and hotels and that they will also not keep anyone who they do not know personally.
This apart, they will be held personally responsible for the acts of their servants and in case of non-compliance of instructions they could face legal action.
"In case the owners fail to comply with these instructions, legal action will be taken against them," the paper quoted the certificate annexed with the questionnaire as saying.
After complying with this, residents will have to submit the certificate to the station house officers (SHOs) of their localities.
