18 October 2004	Monday	03 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Oct 17: Plainclothesmen deployed on patrol duty at nights are alleged to have been making movement of motorists' difficult by demanding money and harassing them. The practice has been going on in several areas of the city for the last couple of weeks.

All the divisional SPs and DSPs had been directed to deploy policemen in civvies in crime-prone areas of the city to arrest the crime against property. The plainclothesmen are using private vehicles for the purpose, displaying nothing for their identification.

An order issued by the Lahore police chief office says the police officials in civvies be deputed in the areas of higher rate of motorcycle and car-lifting incidents. "The officials deployed for this purpose should have complete details of stolen cars and motorcycles."

However, the force deployed for this purpose is allegedly extorting money from the people. Worse still, the modus operandi these officials use to stop any passerby does not seem much different from that of robbers. Occupants of a car, motorcycle riders and even pedestrians have to go through the ordeal of body search by the policemen.

Mahboob Ahmad, who claims to have gone through such an experience at Mughalpura a couple of days ago, said he got bewildered when two motorcyclists "held him up" when he was on his way home at 11pm.

"I could not decide whether to stop or sped away, as they (the two men) seemed to be robbers instead of policemen," he said, adding that he was literally rounded up when he attempted to flee.

Then they came closer to me and started searching my pockets, he said. He also accused the policemen of thrashing him for asking for their identity. "We are police," he quoted one of them as saying, and added that the two men returned his belongings to him but kept Rs500 with them saying that was their fee. "After all we do our duty just for your protection," they said and showed their belts and weapons they had fastened under their shirts.

Another such victim, Nafees Ahmad, who was deprived of Rs1,000 and humiliated at Samanabad few days ago, said: "This is ridiculous."

"Had you encountered robbers you would have been deprived of everything. And you should just thank us because we have got just for Rs1,000," he quoted the police as saying.It is pertinent to note that such squads are in addition to any number of police pickets set up on a permanent basis on different roads in the provincial metropolis.

"I do not believe that such steps will help reduce the crime rate or arrest the criminals," Munib Ahmad, a shopkeeper at Gulberg commented. He alleged that such squads just filled their pockets with the money they extorted from the innocent.

Unwarranted interference by the police is also intruding on the public privacy and the police higher-ups have failed to evolve any check despite repeated complaints of harassment and corruption.

Gun-toting policemen deployed at the pickets add fuel to fire when the roads are barricaded, forcing vehicular traffic to run on a snail's pace. The pickets turn into bottlenecks.

Complaints of misbehaviour, maltreatment and corruption of such officials are taken for granted and "unjustified checking," as described by the people, has become a permanent feature.

Most of the pickets are set up on link roads and even inside the streets. Even main roads like The Mall, the Jail Road, Gulberg and Defence boulevards have also been included in the list of areas being barricaded. No senior police official was available for comments despite repeated attempts by this reporter.