City police step up action against lockdown violators

As on Monday, the police decided to utilise the lockdown to seize the maximum number of vehicles for violating any rules. According to a senior traffic official, the seizure of the vehicle will further cripple the violator’s activities in the coming days. “Once the vehicle is seized, it will take many days to get it back from the police station. And many of the vehicles will not have all papers in place. Apart from the violation of Section 144, the police would also add Motor Vehicle Act violations in the FIR, making it a cumbersome process to get the vehicle back after paying the fine at a mobile court,” the official noted.

During the initial days, the police had been making the bikers, who violate the lockdown, to do squats on the road. From Monday onwards, it will be more difficult to get back the vehicles back from the station.

“If your vehicle is seized, think of the condition of your bike by the time the lockdown is lifted. The police are certainly not going to worry about your vehicle,” a lawyer pointed out on his social media message.

He also noted that one will not be able to arrange any documents for the seized vehicle during the lockdown. So if you want your vehicles safe, don’t venture out unnecessarily, he added.

The police, however, point out that they don’t seize vehicles without a reason. “We can easily find if one is travelling because of an emergency or not. Use vehicles only if necessary,” the officer noted.

As the statewide lockdown nears two weeks, the number of violations reported across Tamil Nadu crosses 90,000. Till 8 pm on Sunday, the total number of violations reported was 91,782 and arrests made were 90,918. As many as 69,589 two-wheelers were seized from the offenders and Rs 24,60,194 was collected as fine. Meanwhile, the city police booked 1,035 cases violations from 6 am on Sunday to 6 am on Monday and seized 471 vehicles.