A total of 218 people, including 69 members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TLP) have been placed on the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, in the Rawalpindi division by the Punjab home department.
Citing sources, Dawn reported that besides the 69 TLP members, the names of 39 activists of the banned outfit have been sent to the Punjab home department to place them on the watch list bringing the number of the banned organisation's activists in the list in the Rawalpindi region to 108.
Out of 39 individuals, 10 belong from Attock city, 14 hail from Jhelum and 15 from Chakwal.
Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Imran Ahmar confirmed the placement of TLP activists on the fourth schedule, adding the police had followed all the legal procedures to include them in the list.
According to Dawn, out of the 218 individuals who were involved in harmful activities and placed on the fourth schedule, 92 were from the Rawalpindi district, 68 from Attock, 14 from Jhelum and 44 from Chakwal.
The schedule also includes an individual suspected of having links with a proscribed organisation. Moreover, 17 TLP activists have been missing from their homes as they had left their residences without intimating the police concerned.
According to the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, anyone whose name is placed on the fourth schedule is bound to inform the police before leaving their permanent residence and upon return.
An individual placed on the watch list can't leave the country as their name is also put on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The TLP was banned by the Pakistan government after anti-France protests broke out in April where the supporters of the outfit took to the streets to protests against France over caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. The protests soon turned violent and exposed the grim security situation in Pakistan.
During the violent protests, hundreds of protesters and police personnel were injured and thousands of TLP activists and supporters were arrested and booked for attacking law enforcement personnel and blocking main roads and highways.
Several police vehicles were torched, buildings were attacked and policemen were kidnapped and tortured by the activists of the TLP across the Punjab province, with at least six policemen killed and over 800 injured.
The banned party, led by cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi gained popularity over the issue of blasphemy among the masses, specifically concerning Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer over blasphemy accusations.
( With inputs from ANI )
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