15 March,2009 10:24 AM IST | | Agencies
In Rawalpindi, police raided the High Court premises and arrested over 100 lawyers who had gathered there to leave for Islamabad today.
The policemen beat the lawyers and locked the main gate of the court building. Nawaz Sharif was scheduled to lead a procession of PML-N supporters from GPO Chowk in Lahore and then join a convoy of protesters in Rawalpindi.
Police used freight containers to block key roads in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. All traffic was blocked on these roads. The key arterial Murree Road and other roads were blocked at several places. Additional police pickets were also established on Murree Road.
Police conducted raids on houses and offices of opposition parties and arrested activists and several leaders of the PML-N, Jamaat-e-Islami and former cricketer Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party. Lawyers and opposition parties have said the authorities have detained over 1,200 people since Tuesday in an effort to thwart the long march.
Most of the people were held under the Maintenance of Public Order law. The government yesterday asked the army to deploy troops to help maintain law and order. Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said troops would remain on alert and be deployed only if the situation warranted it.
