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Traffic cops get 44 new towing vans………..Yogesh Naik I TNN
Mumbai: The traffic police have acquired 44 towing vans following intense criticism and a PIL, which stated that the department was hiring vehicles owned by policemen.
The issue of policemenowned towing vans came up when civic activist Gaurang Damani filed a case in the high court on illegal towing. The policemen, most of them constables, supplied towing vans. Damani said he could prove 19 such cases.
Sources in the police said the constables, owners and the traffic police were part of a nexus involving the towing away of vehicles.
In June, the traffic police added a fleet of 44 vehicles. A senior police officer said that apart from its small fleet, the department used 61 privately owned towing vans. With the induction, this figure has gone down to 58 and the private contracts will be ended in a systematic manner, the officers said.
A constable from Ghatkopar, who owned one such towing van, said, “Though we charged the traffic police for using the services, we did a prompt job. It also kept our home fires burning. What is wrong if a Marathi manoos does some business? In fact, the traffic police must give us contracts as we get more offenders. The police drivers will not bother to make more trips.’’