We have obtained NIR broad-band images in the J, H and K bands of 12 barred galaxies that make up our sample, during three observing runs with the 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Hawaii. We used the Montreal NIR camera (MONICA) equipped with a 256 x 256 pixel HgCdTe array detector with a projected size of 0.248 arcsec. One of the main data products presented in this paper is a set of detailed radial profile fits to the NIR images. We present radial profiles of ellipticity, major axis position angle, NIR colour, and H- band surface brightness. We have used aperture photometry from the literature to calibrate the data. After calibrating the images, we fitted ellipses to the images. We thus produced plots of the surface brightness of the H- band as a function of the radius, and colour profiles in J-K and H-K for all the galaxies which were imaged in these bands. Error-bars in these plots indicate the uncertainty in the determination of the sky background. Certain aspects of the radial profiles are discussed in the paper, but there is one characteristic which is worth mentioning here. Apart from NGC 3516 and NGC 3982, the radial profiles show characteristic behaviour near the radius of the circumnuclear ring. In seven (out of 10) galaxies, all profiles (surface brightness, colour, ellipticity and position angle) show either a change in slope, where the surface brightness profile becomes steeper, or a bump, when the colour profile shows a limited redder region caused by either dust or SF in or near the ring. These characteristics are accompanied by some change in ellipticity and position angle. (1 data file).