Traffic vehicle on wrong side of law

Van on traffic police duty rams car; driver found carrying expired licence

Van on traffic police duty rams car; driver found carrying expired licence

A Vehicle on traffic police duty, the kind that carries away two-wheelers parked on the wrong side of the road, was the one on the wrong side of the law yesterday.

Driving into a lane in Narayan Peth, it rammed into a car.

The traffic police vehicle that hit a car in Narayan Peth.

And the driver of the vehicle was found to be carrying an expired licence. The owner of the car and locals who witnessed the incident learnt this when they got hold of the driver, Rafiq Shaikh, and took his licence.

A witness said it was also discovered that the licence was a 'non-transport' one,u00a0 and that the crowd that gathered there was getting infuriated by the minute with the turn of events.



Rs 25,000 loss

Sudhir Kulkarni, the owner of the damaged car and a resident of Chinchwad, and his son Surendra were in the city on some bank-related business.

"We spoke to the RTO and our damage is estimated to beu00a0 about Rs 25,000," Sudhir said. "We need to be compensated."

No FIR?

No FIR was lodged by the Vishrambaug police against the traffic vehicle driver till last reports came in. The driver got a spare key and drove away.

Kulkarni said it was shocking that a traffic vehicle that is used to discipline those who park wrongly had done this.

Anil Kamble, a resident of the area, said: "In their zeal to find wrongly parked vehicles, traffic vehicle drivers don't follow basic rules."

The Other Side

POLICE Sub-Inspector V D Oval of the Sambhaji Pul police chowky said: "We are filing an offence under IPC Section 279 (rash driving causing damage) against the driver Shaikh. About that non-transport licence bit, we are investigating."