RAWALPINDI:The City’s trade bodies have demanded of the Rawalpindi district administration to increase security around all markets including cattle market areas as Eid shopping was gaining momentum with each passing day.
President Markazi Anjuman-e-Tajran Sharjil Mir told reporter that he asked the district administration to deploy policemen in plain clothes present in vulnerable areas and ready to converge on a single whistle in case of an emergency.
He said there were a large number of beggars, who apparently seek alms but were also involved in criminal activities like pick-pocketing and snatching different items from the people visiting the markets.
Mir said that as the Eid ul Azha comes nearer, people from other areas along with their families including women and children arrived in the city for collecting meat and animal waste, often involved in criminal activities.
He urged the district administration to deploy police personnel in a sufficient number keeping in view the great hustle and bustle in the shopping centers.
President Moti Bazar Chaudhry Iqbal also asked the quarters concerned to beef up the security of city markets, especially during nighttime.
When contacted, City Police Officer (CPO) Syed Khalid Hamdani assured that foolproof security arrangements had been made at shopping centers and cattle markets to give a special cover to shopping areas so that customers, as well as traders, could feel a sense of security./395