ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: The government spent over Rs50 million on provision of food and other facilities to the police and Rangers personnel deployed during the long march in the capital city.

However, payment for food, the major portion of the bill, has yet to be made to the private restaurant.

The capital police had sought Rs50 million from the interior ministry to purchase anti-riot gear and meet the expenses on provision of food and transport to the police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel called from other areas.

However, the ministry provided Rs30 million to the police. Besides, the Rangers were separately given Rs20 million.Out of the Rs30 million, the police purchased tear gas shells and rubber bullets worth Rs8 million from the Pakistan Ordinance Factories (POF).

The purchase was made as the capital police had almost run out of its stock of tear gas shells and rubber bullets during the violent protests held against the anti-Islamic film in September 2012.

After the purchase, two truckloads of tear gas shells and rubber bullets were brought to the Parade Ground to use them against the participants of the march in case of a need.

These were the trucks about which the organisers of the sit-in had claimed that the police had readied explosive-laden vehicles against the participants.

Similarly, Rs8.8 million were spent to feed the over 10,000 police personnel from Islamabad, Punjab, Azad Kashmir and Frontier Constabulary from Monday afternoon to Thursday night.

Around 15,000 packs of rice were supplied to the personnel during the four days. Each pack cost Rs145 but the authorities are asking for substantial discount, an official of the food outlet said.

The security personnel were also provided tents and firewood to protect themselves against the chilly weather.

The capital police are now calculating the cost of fuel to be paid to the police, Rangers and FC personnel called from other provinces.

The police have decided to pay rent to the containers used to block some roads in the red zone. A meeting is scheduled to be held with the owners of the containers on Saturday morning to finalise the detail.