338 booked for drunk driving

NAGPUR: Mixing celebrations with driving proved costly for many motorists as the traffic police came down heavily on drunken driving on Monday. They booked 338 drivers for the offence.

Perhaps, it was first time that such a large number of drunken driving cases were registered in a single day. A majority of those charged were in the age group of 20 to 45 years and most were twowheeler riders.

Assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Anil Bobde said that motive behind the intensive patrolling throughout the day was to ensure that nothing untoward happened on roads during Holi celebrations. Four serious accidents and many minor accidents were reported on Monday.

“Our effort was concentrated on preventing fatal accidents,” said the ACP. Amongst those booked, there was no woman, nor were there any repeat offenders, said a cop. According to a source, court fines of up to Rs 3,000 were levied on two-wheelers and up to Rs 10,000 from car drivers and their driving licences were suspended for a minimum of six months.

“This shows that the courts too are taking a serious view of drunken driving,” said a source and added that the fine collection for the offence may cross Rs 9 lakh. The police campaign began early on Rang Panchami, at around 8 am. Armed with breathalysers, traffic cops stood at major junctions, taking motorists by surprise.

The anti-drunken driving campaign reached its peak between 2 and 4 pm and ended at around 9 pm. A majority of the cases were booked at Sitabuldi. As many as 111 people were caught in the jurisdiction of Traffic South wing, which comprises Sitabuldi (106 cases), Dhantoli and Sonegaon police station areas. It was followed by MIDC Zone, where 80 vehicle users landed in traffic police. Traffic East registered 62 cases. Similarly, Traffic West, Indora and North wings booked 32, 31, and 22 persons respectively. Of the violators, 324 were two-wheeler riders, eight each were three-wheeler and four-wheeler drivers, said the ACP.

During Monday’s drive, the traffic police also registered 65 cases of speeding. A large number of rash driving cases were also registered. An intensive traffic drive was also carried out by police on Monday in which around 400 challans were issued to those violating traffic rules. Similarly on the eve of Holi, the cops caught 81 people for drunken driving.
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