Owner of stolen scooter gets 9 challans in Chandigarh in 12 days!

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 3

The traffic police are apparently using smart cameras installed on city roads merely to issue challans. The owner of a stolen scooter has learnt this the hard way.

The owner of the scooter, ridden by the suspected thief for more than a month, received nine challans for various violations within a span of 12 days from the traffic police, which remained oblivious of the fact that the vehicle was stolen. Before the cops could act, the owner’s relatives reportedly caught hold of the suspect and handed him over to the police.

Complainant Sagar, a Maloya resident, said his scooter was stolen on the intervening night of December 22 and 23 near his house. He informed the police control room about the theft and later got an FIR registered online.

While the police failed to trace his scooter, Sagar said he was shocked to learn the suspect was zipping freely across the city on his scooter as he started receiving e-challans of his scooter for traffic violations.

“I received the first challan on January 21, followed by four more on January 22, 23, 24 and 25, respectively,” he said.

The complainant further received challans on January 28, 30 and 31 and the ninth one was sent to him on February 1 for speeding on the Hallo Majra/Vikas Nagar road. “So far, I have received nine challans,” he said, while expressing surprise at the department’s failure to identify the vehicle as a stolen despite an FIR.

Sagar said he submitted a complaint regarding this to the UT SSP at public window.

Interestingly, the complainant managed to track down the suspect and handed him over to the police. The stolen scooter has also been recovered, said sources.

Complainant’s relatives noticed the scooter near the Sector 25 roundabout and nabbed the suspect, who was later handed over to the police.

The complainant is now in a fix as to who will pay the fine for the nine traffic violations.

Who will pay fine?

Suspect was nabbed by complainant’s kin and handed over to cops, say sources. The scooter has also been recovered. His relatives noticed the scooter near Sec 25 roundabout and nabbed suspect. The complainant is now in a fix as to who will pay the fine for the nine traffic violations.