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KARACHI, Sunday (AFP)

Fearing a violent backlash if a guilty verdict is handed down in the Daniel Pearl murder trial, Pakistan is deploying snipers, banning cell phones at the courts and has placed security forces on high alert throughout Karachi.

"We are prepared in case of any retaliation or reaction," the home secretary of Sindh province, Brigadier Mukhtar Sheikh, told AFP. "Law enforcement agencies are on alert."

He said security has been beefed up to deal with any reaction to the judgement expected to be delivered by a special terrorism court on Monday.

Police have described Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, as a "hub of terrorist activities" and "one of the best hideouts in Pakistan." Pearl was last seen in Karachi in January.

Investigators expect a guilty verdict on abduction charges, which carries capital punishment, although the suspects could beat murder charges as Pearl's body was not found.

Police did discover body parts believed to be Pearl's in Karachi on May 17, but DNA tests have yet to be announced. Police and paramilitary troops have tightened security around the prison in Hyderabad where the makeshift special anti-terrorism court has been hearing the case, Sindh prison chief, Brigadier Nisar Mehar, told AFP.

Armed police and paramilitary units will be deployed inside the prison, including snipers on rooftops, while security agencies will look after protection outside the jail, Mehar said.

He said no vehicles would be allowed near the prison and there would be restrictions on relatives visiting other inmates on Monday.

Cell phones will be banned inside the jail while journalists have been told they must remain at staff quarters located next to the jail to be briefed by lawyers after the judgement is delivered behind closed doors.

Special court judge Ashraf Ali Shah announced Wednesday that he would deliver the verdict on Monday inside Hyderabad prison, 160 kilometres (100 miles) from here.

Journalists have been barred from attending the hearings as well as the verdict.

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