Widespread checking will prevent robbery, chain-snatching: City Police Commissioner

Mysore/Mysuru: While the City Police have intensified strict vehicle checking drives over the past few weeks on almost all the roads, the Department has come under fire for putting the public, especially office-goers, into a lot of inconvenience in the name of vehicle checking.

People have flayed the Police move that is particularly aimed at collecting penalties to fill the coffers rather than ensuring road safety.

Responding to the criticism, City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth defended the drive and said that the move is aimed at creating public awareness on traffic rules and regulations and at the same time to prevent crimes.

Addressing a press conference at his office yesterday, the City Top Cop said, it has come to his notice that there has been opposition for intensified vehicle checking drive alleging that motorists are being unnecessarily harassed. “Our intention is to maintain law and order, educate the public and sensitise them on following traffic rules and regulations. Moreover, we want to put an end to thriving crime,” he said.

“Soon after I took over as City Police Commissioner, I found rampant helmetless riding, triple-riding and many such other traffic violations. I wanted to enforce the rules making the public follow road discipline. In the meantime, the cooker bomb blast incident happened in Mangaluru and it was established that the accused Mohammad Shariq was a resident of Mysuru. All these factors made me take a decision on checking drives,” the Police Commissioner said.

“Security measures have been heightened following the cooker bomb blast case and patrolling has been intensified. We are carrying out vehicle checks at more than 20 points daily and most of these points are on busy roads and junctions,” he added.

Maintaining that the checking drive is a joint operation of the Traffic and Civil Police, he said that while Traffic Police check vehicles for traffic violations and documents, the Civil Police scan the vehicles to ascertain if lethal weapons and any other unlawful materials are being transported.

People have to cooperate

Admitting that the public may have been inconvenienced, he said that the public must cooperate with the Police in checking unlawful activities and crimes. “Widespread and regular vehicle checking will hugely help prevent crimes such as chain-snatching, robbery, looting, etc. The public must also bear in mind what would be the fate of the families of accident victims, who lose their lives or get permanently maimed due to accidents caused by traffic violations,” he noted.

The Commissioner further said that patrolling will be intensified in secluded and dark areas, from 6 pm to 10 pm in order to instil confidence among the public.

“Our personnel have been asked to place barricades during checking drives for a smooth operation. Remember, collection of fines is not the sole aim of such drives. We want to ensure safety, create a road sense and prevent crimes. I also urge the public to send videos in case any Policeman demands bribes or resorts to harassment. There will be no compromise on taking strict action against errant cops,” he added.

Rowdies to be dealt with hard

The Police Commissioner issued a stern warning to the rowdies that serious action would be taken against them if they were found to be indulging in any acts of rowdyism or illegal activities. He said cases would be booked under the Arms Act against the rowdy elements in whose houses the weapons were found.

“I want to reiterate that the Police will mount close surveillance on the rowdy elements and will take action if any of them were found indulging in illegal activities such as running unauthorised clubs, collecting exorbitant rate of interest, extortion, gambling, prostitution or dealing in narcotics,” he added.