Pakistan’s Punjab police have launched screening of all personnel deployed for the security of provincial CM Maryam Nawaz following threats from Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), an official said on Monday. Maryam Nawaz, the first woman chief minister of Punjab has also curtailed her public appearance and the security of some senior members of her cabinet too has been beefed up in the face of the threats from the radical party. The steps are taken after a crackdown against the TLP, now a proscribed outfit, when at least 16 people, including policemen, were killed in clashes and supporters of TLP at Muridke, some 60 kms from Lahore.
The screening process covers all security personnel stationed at the Sharif family home in Jati Umra Lahore and the Chief Minister’s Office as well as other supporting staff. “The move aims to ensure that no individual associated with any proscribed organisation or having extremist views remains part of the CM’s security detail,” the official said. He said the scrutiny is being carried out after intelligence inputs indicated potential risks linked to individuals with suspected affiliations to the TLP. The official said that the chief minister and her cabinet members are particularly concerned, rather worried, keeping in view the case of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer.