PESHAWAR, Oct 31: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to impose ban on all firebrand speakers, wall chalking and hate literature during Muharram to maintain law and order in the province.

According to a statement, the decision was taken in a meeting held here on Thursday with Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Syed Akhtar Ali Shah in the chair. The meeting was attended by commissioners and regional police officers, who informed the participants about the Muharram security plan.

The meeting also discussed the threat perceptions and contingencies plans to deal with the situation in a befitting manner. The officials said that they were in high state of preparations.

They said that services of army, Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary had also been requisitioned according to the contingency plans chalked out for Peshawar, Kohat, Hango and Dera Ismail Khan.

Similarly, the meeting decided that walls should be white-washed in the districts where Muharram activities were carried out and timings of processions must be observed to avoid clash with prayers timings of other sects.

The meeting decided that code of conducts must be Govt to ban firebrand speakers in Muharram followed by both the sects and places of gatherings of other sects should be shifted and cleared by the special branch and bomb disposal unit (BDU).

Similarly, the civic bodies would remove all the garbage and proper sanitation be ensured by the staff of relevant town municipal officers. The staff of gas and postal departments would check their installations before the start of processions and on daily basis and give a certificate to the police officials concerned.

The meeting said that Peshawar Electric Supply Company should ensure that power supply would not be interrupted and there should be alternate arrangements of lighting in case of breakdown in advance. “There shall be proper security plan for meeting any eventuality like rocket attack, especially in Hangu district,” the participants of the meeting said.

The statement said that Kohat DIG would calculate the exact number of Levies personnel in Kohat, Hangu and Karak to equip them with arms and ammunition, to be provided by the police department.

“Mardan, Nowshera, Bannu and Lakki Marwat shall not be taken as light and the divisional administration and police should not be ignorant of the situation in the adjoining districts. Rather, they should be more active as compare to most sensitive districts,” it added.

The meeting decided that police would conduct targeted operations to arrest militants, proclaimed offenders and anti-social elements and submit reports to the home department.

The meeting asked the local government department to release funds to municipal committees for Muharram on urgent and daily basis to carry out repair work and sanitation in their areas.

Meanwhile, AIGP Masood Khan Afridi has said that special branch would l be given the status of an agency as it was playing vital role against terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Addressing a training session for special branch here on Thursday, he said that chances of terrorism always persisted but the credit went to special branch, which foiled sabotage attempts and saved lives of people. He said that special branch was also facing serious challenges to foil anti-state conspiracies.