‘Illegal’ drivers cheat system

3 booked for impersonation at licence centre, on road

LAHORE:

A rush by thousands of people to driving licence centres after the city traffic police launched a crackdown against driving without the permits has resulted in several cases of fraud related to the issue.

During the past week, at least three incidents of fraud related to driving licences were reported at the Gulberg police station.

A man impersonating his friend to give a driving test at the Liberty Licencing Centre was arrested on Monday. Reportedly, Farukh Ejaz had gone to the centre to give the test in place of his friend Usman.

As he was behaving suspiciously. A traffic warden carried out his biometric verification that did not match his CNIC. Police arrested both suspects and registered a case against them at Gulberg police station.

The same day, a man wearing Elite Police Force uniform and escorted by three persons in the same dress was arrested from the same centre.

Read SHOs to face consequences for underage drivers

Reportedly, Azhar Sharif worked as supervisor of a private security company. He had been entering and leaving the premises acting as ‘some’ important personality while two to three persons wearing elite force uniform escorting him.

A traffic warden deemed his behaviour suspicious and asked for his identification. When it was confirmed that he was not a police official, the suspect was arrested and a case registered against him.

In the third case, Yaseen, posed himself as a senior government officer and pressured a traffic warden and an SP to release a teenage girl claiming to be a relative of the acting chief minister. A case was registered against him.

A video of the suspect riding a luxury car, hurling threats at traffic wardens and the police officer and demanding the release of the underage driver had been shared on social media.

In all, 24 centres function throughout the city to issue the licence, including eight operating day and night. Official data shows that 173,317 learners permits have been issued in the city during the past two weeks. As many as 45,000 citizens renewed their learners permits during the period.

During the crackdown, the police have registered FIRs against 5,902 drivers without licence and 5,778 underage drivers.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2023.