LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhry has expressed his concern over the worsening law and order situation in Punjab, particularly in Lahore.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Mr Chaudhry said the way renowned actress Roohl Bano was attacked has exposed the performance of law-enforcement agencies. In another tragic hit-and-run incident on Ferozepur Road, he said, a member of PTI social media team, Mazhar Iqbal, died. He questioned what Punjab police were doing to maintain law and order in Punjab.

He said the Punjab police were acting as the personal guards of the Sharif family and the protection of common man`s life and property was not on their priority.

PTI Punjab Secretary-General Dr Yasmin Rashid said the Punjab police were only protecting the Sharif family while the common man had to take care of his protection himself. After the promulgation of the Police Order of 2002, shesaid, the provinces were expected to improve their law enforcement apparatus. Beside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, she said, no other province had introduced police reforms. She said without operational autonomy, de-politicisation and independent public oversight, policing standards would continue to fall short.

`This is what we are experiencing in Punjab where infamous Thana Culture is present because it suits the ruling elite, she said.

Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas said the stalemate created in police behaviour clearly spoke poorly of Shahbaz Sharif`s competence. She said the government functionaries were enjoying VIP perl(s and had neither will nor commitment to introduce police reforms. She said law and order and police performance was falling day by day and touching the lowest ebb.

She said Mr Sharif was not using Punjab police for the core job it was meant for.

`We, as human beings, should value human life,` she stressed. She also expressed deep grief and sorrow over the tragicdeathofMazharIqbaland demanded that police immediately arrest his killer.