Summary 35,000 security personnel have been deployed in the federal capital to ensure law and order.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk / Agencies) - Authorities have tightened security in the federal capital after opposition politician Imran Khan announced he will lead thousands of protesters into the capital s high-security Red Zone at 6:00pm on Tuesday.
Islamabad s Red Zone houses diplomatic posts, parliament, government offices and the presidential and prime ministerial palaces.
The area has been fortified in three steps. Police have been deployed at frontline while FC personnel are present in second row and Rangers personnel have been deployed outside the government offices and diplomatic posts.
All routes leading towards the heavily fortified area were completely sealed. Rubber bullets and tear gas shells have been provided to more than 10,000 policemen, FC personnel and Rangers.
Police authorities have warned that any protestor trying to enter the Red Zone will dealt with iron hand.
Imran Khan, a former cricket legend who heads parliament s third-largest political bloc, made the announcement at a rally in Islamabad on Monday calling for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down over alleged voting fraud in 2013 elections. Khan s protest is part of twin demonstrations drawing tens of thousands of people that are wreaking havoc in the capital of 1.7 million people.
"I will be in front and workers will remain in the back so that if any bullet is fired it will hit me, not my workers," Khan said.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has repeatedly said no one would be allowed to enter the high security zone, which is protected by police and blocked off with shipping containers.
Khan announced earlier Monday that his party lawmakers will resign from the parliament and provincial assemblies except for the Khuber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly where his party — Pakistan Tahrik-e-Insaf — is in charge. On Sunday, he also called on protesters to stop paying taxes and practice civil disobedience until Sharif steps down.
Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, a dual Pakistani-Canadian citizen with a wide following, have mounted twin protests against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, accusing him of rigging the election that brought him to power. Sharif has said he won t step down.
