Cops crack down on Bullets with altered silencers

Satinder Pal Singh

Dera Bassi, February 14

If you are a Royal Enfield ‘Bullet’ enthusiast, never dare to go beyond the manufacturers specifications.

The Dera Bassi police along with traffic cops are now on the lookout for those Bullet riders, who modify its silencer to produce jarring high decibel sound, thereby causing massive noise pollution.

Silencer blasts produced by altering the silencer of Bullet motorcycle has become a nuisance in the city. There has been a considerable rise in the popularity of Bullet, mainly for its unique engine sound. Youngsters get its silencers modified to create a shrill sound.

Sarabjeet Singh, SHO, Dera Bassi, has taken an initiative along with traffic police in the town to crack a whip on all those who violate the Motor Vehicle Act.

In the past one week, the police have launched a crackdown on the offenders and have also impounded about 20 Bullet motorcycles while many others have been challaned for the offence.

The SHO said as per the Motor Vehicle Act, silencer blast is an offence. Youths create silencer blast by switching the engine off and on when the motorcycle is running at a high speed. This way, a firecracker-like sound is generated.

As the town has witnessed an increase in the number of institutions, including private ones, students come on Bullets having altered their silencers to produce a jarring loud sound to seek attention of passers-by.

The traffic police earlier used to face difficulty in detecting the violation in the motorcycle. In the absence of any technical input, the traffic policemen could not find the mechanism that used to generate high decibel silencer blast.

“Our personnel have some knowledge of altered silencers in Bullet and it has helped them a lot. We will continue this drive,” the SHO said. The SHO said this is a nuisance and it should be dealt with sternly as sudden blast creates panic among commuters.