LAHORE, May 12: Up to 140 vehicles of Lahore police, all in their best condition and meant for crime prevention and detection of cases besides law and order duties, have been in the use of top three political families of the city, Dawn has learnt.

Also a good number of police jawans man the residences of the three political families, government functionaries, TV anchors, journalists and senior police officers.

These vehicles are used to escort the families of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif and PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and Pervaiz Elahi.

Official statistics available to Dawn show that of 750 vehicles of Lahore police, 450 are either redundant or in poor conditions. Of the 140 vehicles, 60 per cent are being used for PML-N leaders and 20 per cent each for Mr Gilani and Chaudhries.

While politicians take it a matter of pride to move with a protocol-cum-security fleet, judges have also their share in security vehicles. Six police vehicles are reserved for Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry while one police vehicle escorts every Lahore High Court judge.

Of the Rs349.8 million allocated for fuel of police vehicles in the current fiscal, a 40 per cent is spent on VVIP vehicles on a priority basis.

Similarly, expenditures for repair of these vehicles are up to Rs350 million, while the total budget is Rs700 million. As the budget for 2010-11 has already been consumed, Lahore police are going to receive a supplementary grant till June 30, 2011, of which again 50 per cent will be spent on VVIP vehicles.

Lahore police also owe Rs75 million to private workshops for the repair of these vehicles.

Contrary to VVIP vehicles, other 144 police vehicles being used by operation and investigation wings of 77 city police stations get only eight litre patrol per vehicle every day. These vehicles are supposed to be on a round-the-clock patrolling besides other duties such as raids and escorting on-trial people from the police station to the court.

Of the 50 Mujahid Squad vehicles, 20 are out of order and 18 others are also frequently used for the VVIP movement.

Sources say a good ratio of human and logistic resources of Lahore police was accommodating VVIPs affecting not only the police performance but also depriving the citizens of their right to enjoy a peaceful atmosphere in the city.

A security division consisted of 7,000 officials, created by the Punjab government for the protection of offices and residences of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif three years ago, mans 7-Club Road, 9-Club Road, 180-H Model Town (camp office), S-Block in Defense Housing Authority and Jati Umra residences. The Flying Squad of Lahore police, which consists of 900 officials, mans the route of VVIPs every day.

Of the 26,000 police officials of Lahore, only 7,000 (from constable to inspector) are working at 77 police stations.

Sources say though it is necessary to provide VVIPs with all necessary logistic support, it is the moral obligation of the chief minister to allocate additional resources for protocol vehicles, their wear and tear and fuel.

The figures also challenge Mr Sharif’s moral justification of raiding city police stations and handing down punishments to policemen for “unsatisfactory” performance when a major chunk of resources is being used on his personal security.

According to official statistics, incidents of dacoity, theft, burglary, cars and motorcycle snatchings, and street crime have witnessed a considerable increase in the first four months of 2011 as compared to the corresponding period of 2010.

The tracing ratio of above-mentioned reported crimes remained below 50 percent, statistics further say.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanallah was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.