More trouble for drunk drivers
Cops Keep An Eye On Motorists With Suspended Licences Too …….Nitasha Natu | TNN
Mumbai: Keyur Parikh must have never imagined that the traffic police were actually tracking his movements, after a court suspended his driving licence in July for a period of six months for drunk driving. On Monday, the police caught 28-year-old Parikh outside Heera Panna mall, a stone’s throw away from his upmarket Tardeo residence, for driving without a valid licence. Parikh then started dropping names and threatened to summon his lawyer, hoping to get off scot-free. But the cops ignored his arguments and hauled him to the Girgaum court. It turned out that he had been booked for four other parking offences as well in the past.
“Nearly 9,000 motor driving licences have been suspended by the court since June last year. We had a hunch that some of these motorists might still be driving despite their licences being suspended. A list of 10-15 such drivers was prepared and we tracked their movements from their residence to their place of work. Our officers were armed with their vehicle registration numbers and photographs. Parikh walked into our trap on Monday,’’ said deputy commissioner (traffic) Harish Baijal.
An employee of a life insurance company, Parikh was driving his Santro (MH01 AE 3276), when the cops intercepted him around 10.30 am. When he could not produce a licence, the police started explaining the charges that he would be booked under. “An arrogant Parikh said he did not want to talk to our officers and that his lawyer would deal with us. He made a lot of phone calls. He then argued that he had to fly to Rome the same day and was concentrating on his work,’’ sub-inspector S T Ghusar said.
After sometime, Parikh’s father, Rajendra, reached the spot. He too started arguing that no action should be taken unless their lawyer arrived. When the cops refused to cow down, the father-son duo started pleading. “Parikh said his career would be affected. We followed the law and booked him under provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act,’’ an officer said. He was produced before the Girgaum court and was sent to judicial custody. The case will come up for hearing on September 22. On July 30, Parikh had been booked for drunk driving at Worli in the same car. The court had imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 and suspended his driving licence for six months. This meant that Parikh could not drive a vehicle in India till January 30, 2009. “Motorists like Parikh show scant respect for law and the authorities. Drunk driving is the cause for a majority of fatal accidents,’’ an officer said.
NO ESCAPE
The Mumbai police began a concerted campaign against drunk drivers from June 20, 2007 and are claiming that their efforts have begun to show results
Number of drivers caught: 20,000 Imprisoned: 9,036 Driving licences suspended: 9,000 Drivers caught twice for drunk driving: 11
URL:http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA4LzA5LzA5I0FyMDAzMDE=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom