LAHORE, July 14: The city police are flouting the ban imposed on pickets by IGP Masud Shah, whose repeated instructions to this effect seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

When the IGP took notice of the problem a few weeks ago, the pickets had become a permanent feature of the city life and a source of harassment for people.

The police started setting up pickets on alternate days and places when the IGP told them in black and white that there should be none at all.

Now the police have come up with a new way to violate the ban. Instead of erecting barricades, they now deploy three to five policemen on a link road or even a street. These pickets, most of which are located in the Model Town police division, have again become permanent.

The police squads consist of three to five gun-totting men, who take positions all around their area of deployment. Their positions would suggest as if they had cordoned off a locality to conduct a raid.

“This is harassment,” said a man while arguing with one such squad of the Ghalib Market police deployed in Gulberg. The man, who introduced himself as Rashid Qureshi, an accountant by profession, said: “We have to pass under the shadow of guns, which is intimidating enough even if we are not checked.”

When the accountant was arguing with the policemen, two youngsters arrived at the scene on a motorcycle and were readily intercepted by one of the policeman, who started their body-search without asking any questions.

Lahore Operations and Prevention police chief Aftab Cheema, responsible for these arrangements, was not available for comments.

Model Town division SP Capt Mubin Ahmad (retired) took an interesting stand when contacted in this regard, saying: “These are police pickets rather than Naakas.” He insisted that the pickets were different from Naakas when asked if they were not the same thing.

The SP said the deployment of three to five policemen was just for security purposes. “They are not allowed to make body searches nor will they stop any vehicle unless they receive a message that a particular vehicle has been used in a crime.” All these pickets, however, were found making body-searches and intercepting every other passing vehicle.

While the city government and the Lahore police have been claiming that pickets are set up on temporary bases and on alternate days, most of them have become permanent.

Complaints of misbehaviour, maltreatment, corruption and unjustified checking of motorists, motorcyclists and even pedestrians have become routine at these pickets.

“It is a nuisance to be checked at every picket on my way to office and back home,” Kamran Khan said. Most of the policemen at these pickets now know me, but they check me daily nonetheless, wasting my time as well as their own, he said.

The way these policemen deal with the people is not in any way civilized or according to the law, said Riaz Mahmood, a resident of Shadman. He claimed that the policemen at a picket close to the Home Economics College kept checking his car for over half an hour the other day despite the fact that he was accompanied by his family, including women and children. “They only want to mint money,” he alleged, claiming that he was made to stay at the picket for so long because he had refused to pay them a bribe.

Permanent police pickets have been set up at several points on Ferozepur Road, Gulberg’s Main Boulevard, Jail Road, Abid Market, Queens Road, Canal View, Thokhar Niaz Baig, Punjab University Campus, Laxmi Chowk, Circular Road, Mughalpura, Baghbanpura, Samanabad and various other places in the city.

Document-checking is not a problem at all, said one Anees Rehman, a resident of Islampura. The problem arises when one is asked to explain his relationship with an accompanying woman. Smelling mouth and asking questions like where one is coming from or where is he going are never justifiable, he commented.

The police, on the other hand, believe that there is no other way to check the increasing crime rate. Pickets serve as a deterrent against crimes against property, a senior officer of the Punjab police said.

Several forums, including some lawyers’ bodies and other pro-citizen organizations, have repeatedly objected to the pickets in view of the public inconvenience caused by them.