Police pick up pace on third day of drive, fine 90 commuters
The vehicles checked included those of army and police officials as well as judges.
CTAC, traffic police and others have started a drive against vehicles which are violating traffic rules and regulations in the city. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/ EXPRESS
KARACHI:
The traffic campaign, jointly held by the traffic police, Sindh Police, Citizens Trust Against Crime (CTAC) and Citizens Police Liasion Committee (CPLC), steamed ahead on Thursday as 10 vehicles were impounded and 90 commuters were fined.
On the third day of the drive, the checking point for unfit vehicles shifted to Khayaban-e-Hafiz, outside Sultan Masjid of the Defence Housing Authority.
While vehicles were being checked for following the traffic rules and regulations, the Rangers' officials deployed at the checking point impounded weapons of those private security guards who failed to show permits for their weapons. A team of excise and taxation department checked registration and tax documents of the cars and verified their validity on the spot through laptops. Volunteers of CTAC, wearing yellow vests, arranged the cars in lines while officials of the traffic police wasted no time in removing fake and fancy number plates, tints from windows, and emblems from the cars.
Pop singer Shehzad Roy was also seen at the checking point, helping drivers park their cars.
Indignant commuters
As observed in the first two days of the drive, owners of the vehicles refused to admit that they were violating in the law even on the third day. "I am a law abiding citizen. My car is perfectly fine. You cannot fine me," said Shazim Altaf, who at first refused to share his documents. "If you do not cooperate, then we will have to impound your car," replied the police official matter-of-factly. Once Altaf shared his papers, it turned that his driving license had expired and there were shortcomings in his motor vehicle tax.
Cars with fake emblems of the Sindh High Court were also impounded while FIRs with charges of fraud were registered against them. "This car belongs to Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri," said Mohammad Abbas, who was driving a car with police LED lights without a driving license. "Please take your car forward and don't try to use your mobile phone. Cell phones are not allowed here," a CTAC member told Abbas. His car was impounded and the police removed the lights from its top.
True to the claim that all vehicles would be checked without concern for rank or designation, police and army official were also asked to share their documents. An army brigadier's car was stopped and checked while a district and sessions judge was issued ticket for tinted glasses.
Senior Superintendent Khurram Waris, when asked to show documents for his car and the weapons carried by his guards, initially appeared slightly annoyed but later appreciated the police efforts, saying "It is a good initiative and everyone should be checked."
Empowering the police
According to CTAC member Nazim Haji, the police were becoming less hesitant in approaching big vehicles with government license plates. "We have to encourage them so that they can keep enforcing law as regularly," he said.
"The campaign is also grooming the police," said DIG Abdul Khalique Shaikh. "It is more than a drive against traffic violations - it will also refresh the officials on what they were taught during their training," he said. "Overtime, we [police] forget and also lose courage to check vehicles with government number plates, cars of police officials, judges and other high-ups."
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2013.
The traffic campaign, jointly held by the traffic police, Sindh Police, Citizens Trust Against Crime (CTAC) and Citizens Police Liasion Committee (CPLC), steamed ahead on Thursday as 10 vehicles were impounded and 90 commuters were fined.
On the third day of the drive, the checking point for unfit vehicles shifted to Khayaban-e-Hafiz, outside Sultan Masjid of the Defence Housing Authority.
While vehicles were being checked for following the traffic rules and regulations, the Rangers' officials deployed at the checking point impounded weapons of those private security guards who failed to show permits for their weapons. A team of excise and taxation department checked registration and tax documents of the cars and verified their validity on the spot through laptops. Volunteers of CTAC, wearing yellow vests, arranged the cars in lines while officials of the traffic police wasted no time in removing fake and fancy number plates, tints from windows, and emblems from the cars.
Pop singer Shehzad Roy was also seen at the checking point, helping drivers park their cars.
Indignant commuters
As observed in the first two days of the drive, owners of the vehicles refused to admit that they were violating in the law even on the third day. "I am a law abiding citizen. My car is perfectly fine. You cannot fine me," said Shazim Altaf, who at first refused to share his documents. "If you do not cooperate, then we will have to impound your car," replied the police official matter-of-factly. Once Altaf shared his papers, it turned that his driving license had expired and there were shortcomings in his motor vehicle tax.
Cars with fake emblems of the Sindh High Court were also impounded while FIRs with charges of fraud were registered against them. "This car belongs to Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri," said Mohammad Abbas, who was driving a car with police LED lights without a driving license. "Please take your car forward and don't try to use your mobile phone. Cell phones are not allowed here," a CTAC member told Abbas. His car was impounded and the police removed the lights from its top.
True to the claim that all vehicles would be checked without concern for rank or designation, police and army official were also asked to share their documents. An army brigadier's car was stopped and checked while a district and sessions judge was issued ticket for tinted glasses.
Senior Superintendent Khurram Waris, when asked to show documents for his car and the weapons carried by his guards, initially appeared slightly annoyed but later appreciated the police efforts, saying "It is a good initiative and everyone should be checked."
Empowering the police
According to CTAC member Nazim Haji, the police were becoming less hesitant in approaching big vehicles with government license plates. "We have to encourage them so that they can keep enforcing law as regularly," he said.
"The campaign is also grooming the police," said DIG Abdul Khalique Shaikh. "It is more than a drive against traffic violations - it will also refresh the officials on what they were taught during their training," he said. "Overtime, we [police] forget and also lose courage to check vehicles with government number plates, cars of police officials, judges and other high-ups."
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2013.