Residents’ complaints trigger crackdown on wheelies, loud exhausts

Mysuru: As part of the National Road Safety Month campaign, Mysuru Police crushed 378 defective silencers seized during special drives against wheelies and modified exhausts on bikes and scooters, rendering them unusable.

The altered silencers were found to be causing severe noise pollution and inconvenience to road users, particularly senior citizens.

The silencers, confiscated during enforcement operations across the city in January, were destroyed using a road roller at the Police Canteen premises on Lalitha Mahal Road. Riders were issued challans under the Indian Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and in several cases, vehicles were detained until compliant silencers were fitted.

The seizures were made across multiple Traffic Police Station limits: Devaraja Traffic Police Station (26), K.R. Traffic Police Station (59), NR Traffic Police Station (50), Siddarthanagar Traffic Police Station (43) and V.V. Puram Traffic Police Station (200), taking the total number of destroyed                                                    silencers to 378.

Senior citizens were among those most affected by the high-decibel noise, prompting the City Police to launch a special drive in December to identify vehicles causing noise pollution.

Residents had complained of excessive noise, late-night racing and disturbances near hospitals, schools and busy marketplaces. Traffic and local Police teams set up checkpoints, stopped suspected vehicles and inspected exhaust systems for illegal modifications.

Officers reported finding cut pipes, aftermarket free-flow units and tampered baffles designed to amplify sound and give riders a louder riding experience. The drive targeted vehicles generating abnormal noise and violating motor vehicle rules related to emission and sound standards.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic) K.S. Sundar Raj said, the operation was part of the national campaign. He stressed that using defective silencers and performing wheelies are traffic violations and warned that special checks would continue. Riders found with modified silencers or engaging in dangerous stunts would face legal action, he added.

City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, Traffic ACP Shivashankar, Krishnaraja Traffic Inspector Mahadevaswamy, Siddarthanagar Traffic Inspector Sridhar Nayak, Sub-Inspector Prabhu, V.V. Puram Traffic Inspector Lava, Narasimharaja Traffic Sub-Inspector Siddesh and other officers were present during the operation.