• New strategy to curb chain-snatching, mugging and even robbery 
• Bike-borne criminals tamper with number plates to hoodwink Cops

Mysuru: The Police, who are grappling with many chain-snatching incidents in the city, are having difficulty in tracking down the miscreants, often motorcycle-borne, as they tamper with the number plates of their vehicles in such a way that it is illegible from a distance or some of them even put up fake number plates.

These tampered number plates with stickers, writings and colourful designs between the lines cannot even be captured properly in CCTV cameras when the vehicle is in motion. To counter this, the City Civil and Traffic Police have launched a special drive to crackdown on owners of two-wheelers whose registration number plates do not adhere to rules.

The drive was launched in all Civil and Traffic Police Stations two days back and till today morning, more than 100 such two-wheelers have been seized and towed away. The seizures mostly pertain to decorative colours and stickers on the registration number plates besides use of fonts and styles that are not as per the norms.

The Central Motor Vehicles Rules specify the colour and size of the font to be used on the number plates, besides other things. “We have found many bikes sporting stylish writing on the number plates which make them unreadable from a distance. Illegible number plates and those not following the set norms are not just a hindrance to tracking down chain-snatchers but also those involved in mugging, robberies and other offences,” City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta told Star of Mysore this morning.

Till now, the Police were focussing only on awareness drives and announcements on loudspeakers warning women not to flaunt their gold chains while venturing outside.

“These awareness programmes will continue and at the same time, we are getting into the root of the problem. We have learnt that with such faulty number plates, chain-snatchers can easily get away and we do not want this to happen,” the Commissioner said.

“It is easy to read a number plate in the CCTV camera footage if motorists adhere to the norms and rules prescribed. But most of these number plates with fancy fonts prove to be a hindrance.

Also, to our surprise, we have found many bikes roaming on the streets without number plates,” Dr. Chandragupta                          added. 

The drive is being conducted in residential areas where there are parks with multiple access roads, deserted streets, usual walking areas that have good tree cover and wide roads, roads adjoining the Ring Road and such areas.

Along with the drive, the Police are also focusing on high-power bikes, modified engine bikes and the likes as most of the times such powerful vehicles are used to snatch gold chains on the roads and get away quickly.