RTA teams’ locations being shared on WhatsApp groups

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, December 9

Some miscreants have created WhatsApp groups titled “Gadar Ek Prem Katha” and “Yeh Nazar Mere Peer Ki” to share the locations of official vehicles of the Regional Transport Authority and other regulatory teams to create a safe passage for overloaded vehicles.

The matter came to light when Regional Transport Authority (RTA) officials caught some people sharing locations during the checking of overloaded vehicles. As per information, a team of RTA, Ambala, was checking overloaded vehicles on December 6, when it spotted a two-wheeler rider following the official vehicle.

The accused, identified as Gurdeep Singh, was caught and he disclosed that he shared the location of the vehicle with Atinder Singh, who himself, or through Rinku Saini, alias Amrish Puri, shared the location on a WhatsApp group named “Gadar Ek Prem Katha”, with 370 members.

On the same day, the team stopped a tipper near Khudda Kalan village of Ambala Cantt and while checking the mobile of the driver, Rakib Mohammad, a WhatsApp group named “Yeh Nazar Mere Peer Ki”, with 24 members, was detected. The group was reportedly being run by Manish Mukandpur to share location.

In the third case, a tipper was stopped on the Saha-Shahzadpur bypass on December 3. While cheking the driver’s phone, Jarnail Singh, a WhatsApp group “Mahadev Driver Group”, with 70 members, was found. The police have arrested Jarnail Singh and Gagandeep Singh. They were produced before a court, which sent them to judicial custody.

Causing loss to state exchequer

These people share locations of enforcement team and other regulatory teams on WhatsApp groups, hamper government duty and cause loss to the state exchequer. Their men follow the teams and share the location to create a safe passage for overloaded vehicles. A close watch is being kept on such people and strict action will be taken against them. — Sushil Kumar, secretary, Ambala RTA