LAHORE, June 22: Violations of privacy at the hands of police on picket duty constitute a matter of considerable public concern, as many roads have permanently been picketed here since last week.

The roads are barricaded and gun-totting police deployed at pickets, forcing vehicular traffic to move at snail's pace. The barricades frequently cause traffic jams during the rush hours.

Lahore police chief DIG Tariq Saleem believes that visibility of police helps rein in the miscreants. He said that picketing was resumed after a complete review of the security plan and crime situation in the city.

Asked about the high-handedness of police on picket or patrol duty, the police chief said it was not as high as people would have us believe. "I must say the arrests and the recoveries made by patrol squads and officials at pickets have been commendable."

However, the commoners who pass by the picket lines daily have a different story to tell. "I together with my family visited a relative in Muslim Town. From my Defence house to my destination I was searched at five pickets," said Moeen Hashmi the other day. It seems as if a siege has been laid to the city, he said, adding that stupid questions of the police were always intolerable.

A businessman Fraz Ahmad says that how could he tolerate someone in uniform entering his car without asking anything. "Am I supposed to give a body search and that of my car at all pickets. It is ridiculous."

The pickets as a permanent feature of roads are contrary to the stand which the city government and the Lahore police have been taking in the past. Both the authorities have reportedly been claiming that the pickets are set up on a temporary basis on alternate days.

Complaints keep pouring in about misbehaviour, maltreatment, corruption and unjustified checking of motorists, motorcyclists and even pedestrians at these pickets. Earlier, most of the pickets used to be set up on link roads and even streets, giving rise to complaints and reservations among residents of these areas who alleged that the exercise disrupted normal life.

But now main roads like The Mall, Jail Road, Gulberg and the Defence boulevard have also been picketed. The way the police deal with the public at pickets is unlawful and uncivilized, said Hafeez Qureshi, a resident of Mughalpura.

Pain and ordeal are no words to explain what the police do with people at pickets, he said, adding that he and his family were made to wait for over half an hour at a picket two days ago.

Several forums, including some lawyers bodies and other citizen-friendly organizations, have expressed their reservations about the pickets but to no avail. According to law, a vehicle is considered a private property and no one can check it without a search warrant.

These forums have also been campaigning for some code of conduct for the police personnel deployed at pickets, but no such step has been taken so far.