Traffic offences booked thanks to the surveillance cameras installed at key junctions across Mysuru city have gone up, with the traffic police stepping up watch from its control room on the offenders by installing more high-definition cameras.
At least 2,500 cases are being booked daily for violations caught on camera. Barring cases of driving without licence, driving without insurance, and drunken driving, instances of driving without helmet, jumping signal, triple riding, talking on phone while driving and such other offences are caught by the cameras.
The number of cameras, including those with 360-degree view, has been increased from 40 to 59, and most circles, particularly the major ones, have been equipped to track offences round the clock. The violations are monitored on big screens at the centralised control room in the office of the Police Commissioner by a dedicated team of staff. Senior police officers also have access to images from these cameras at their offices.
The police recently caught hold of a vehicle user driving his motorcycle with a fake number plate in order to evade being caught. Instead of the registration number allotted to his motorcycle by the RTO, the rider was found using a registration number allotted to another scooter. He was using the fake number in front and the correct one in the rear of the motorcycle.
The owner of the other motorcycle had received as many 79 notices for violations for no fault of his own. He subsequently lodged a complaint, and based on it the police zeroed in on the wrongdoer.
Referring to the case, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sandesh Kumar said it was an offence to use fake numbers on vehicles. He warned of legal action against anyone found doing so. He also urged the public to inform the police if they came across such cases.
Serving notice
Mr. Kumar said notices are served on the address available from the RTO based on vehicle number. “We have come across owners ignoring the notices. There have also been cases of people receiving notices over vehicles they have already sold,” he said.
The police have launched a drive to clear the pendency of cases by conducting random checks at parking lots and shopping malls to trace erring vehicle owners.
Mr Kumar, who recently took over as ACP (Traffic), said the police were planning a joint operation with Myuru City Corporation for clearing footpath encroachments. The aim is to rid the footpaths of illegal parking and facilitate free movement of pedestrians.
