Azadi march in Pakistan: Police to seal Islamabad tonight

The police in Pakistan's federal capital, Islamabad, are reportedly preparing to seal the city from Tuesday night.

According to the Dawn, an unnamed police official said that from Tuesday night 70 per cent of each entry road to the capital would be closed and after that only light vehicles can enter the city. He said that sealing the city would make it easier for the law enforcement agencies to check people entering the city. The government will deploy as many as 5,000 officials of the Punjab police, 1,000 from the AJK police and 3,000 Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel in the capital city in order to stop the participants of the march.

The Pakistan government, earlier, said it would permit the PTI workers and its leadership to march in Islamabad, but decided against permitting PAT to move ahead with its 'Inquilab' march plan.

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri announced that his Inqilab' march would move side by side with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)'s 'Azadi' march, the report said.

Meanwhile, the federal has reportedly deployed more than 10,000 police personnel in Rawalpindi to ensure that the marchers don't reach Islamabad.

At least 70 entry points will be blocked with containers filled with sandbags as part of security measures. The police will also place barbed wires on roads in Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal.