A Reuters illustration.
RAWALPINDI: There was excessive alert within the Rawalpindi division as police mobiles, ambulances and restore truck escorted a convoy of eight busses carrying Iran-retuned pilgrims launched from quarantine at Taftan border.
The entire administration of the division was in panic-mode to hurry households comprising 35 ladies and 200 males out of its jurisdiction for onward journey to their hometown in Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.
The pilgrims have been rightfully complaining of the strict safety measures. The Balochistan police had handed over the convoy to Dera Ghazi Khan police on Sunday morning.
The DG Khan police with out permitting any stopover escorted the busses out of their jurisdiction and handed over the accountability to Faisalabad divisions police.
Faisalabad police too ordered continuous exit of individuals suspected of coronavirus out of their jurisdiction. Though luggage of meals and mineral water bottles have been offered on the buses, nobody was allowed to get down.
By Sunday evening these buses entered Rawalpindi division and the escort was modified. Nonetheless, owing to robust protest by the passengers, police allowed the exasperated travellers to get down at Kalar Kahar level on the motorway on Monday midday.
The pilgrims have been allowed to get off. All of them have been served meals and water bottles and additional allowed to make use of a small resort and a mosque for altering garments or utilizing the restrooms. Following this, all of the passengers have been placed on their respective buses once more they usually got packed-food and water bottles for the remaining journey and escorted out of the division and the province.
In the meantime, police and well being officers burnt down benches, chairs of the resort the place the passengers sat right down to eat, the towels they’d used and mats of the mosque the place they’d supplied prayers as a safety measure.
Printed in The Specific Tribune, March 17th, 2020.
