Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho on Tuesday announced a large-scale campaign would begin on December 19 against vehicles with fancy and illegal number plates in the city.
Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Police Office along with Chief CPLC Zubair Habib, DIG Traffic Pir Muhammad Shah and Director Excise Motor Registration Shabana Baloch, the additional IG said that after the implementation of the TRACS system in the city, there has been a significant improvement in traffic management, and the new system is being appreciated by citizens. Traffic rules are also being followed by the citizens, he said, adding positive changes needed in the new system are being made.
Odho said observations and records have revealed that some citizens have started using various tactics to avoid e-challans, some citizens are using fake number plates, and some have taken steps like hiding the number plates.
He announced that a large-scale campaign is going to be launched on Friday against vehicles with fancy and illegal number plates. Along with the district police, excise and CPLC officers have also joined this campaign. He said action will be taken after seeing the excise record for misuse of number plates and hiding it.
He added that action will be taken against those who tamper with legal number plates, and such vehicles, including motorcycles, will be impounded and a case will also be registered for tampering with the number plates.
The additional IG said that if a citizen has contacted the excise department for a number plate, then a receipt will be required. If there is no legal number plate, the vehicle or motorcycle will be temporarily seized, and a case will be registered. Action will also be taken against those citizens who drive with a green number plate.
He said some people are trying to hide the number plate, which is also illegal. Any vehicle or motorcycle with any logo or monogram will be seized. The city police chief noted that under the new system, about 100,000 e-challans have been issued so far, 36,000 people have contacted the convenience centre, and their problems have been resolved.
Joint checking will be done by four departments on the roads from Friday, and two teams will check in each district and take action over violations.
Odho further said the police have the full support of the Sindh government. In the past, it was seen that crime was also committed in a car or motorcycle by putting fake number plates, he said, adding that we have also instructed our drivers that the driver will fill the challan himself.
CPLC Chief Zubair Habib said technology has become such that it is no longer impossible to be caught. Citizens should cooperate, as all these steps are being taken for improvement, he said, adding that the rate of traffic accidents has also decreased significantly, while the seatbelt use has increased.
In response to a question, the city police chief said that if anyone has the authority, he is requested to put the monogram on the side instead of putting it on the number plate. There is a legal requirement that the number plate should be clear. He said that challans have been issued to 7,500 government vehicles so far. This system does not leave anyone out or discriminate, he said and asked people to follow the law.
He said they are considering a policy related to heavy traffic. There are 22,000 heavy traffic vehicles in the city, of which 15,000 have been equipped with trackers. In case of accidents, we know what the speed was, he added.
Odho claimed that the rate of traffic accidents has reduced considerably. Earlier, there were 90 deaths per month, now the number has reduced to less than 50. We have made the tracker mandatory, he said.
On a question of reports of drugs seized by the officers posted in the Special Investigation Unit being resold to drug dealers, he said that some information has come to their knowledge, the relevant officers have been suspended and an inquiry has been handed over to the DIG West. That was a very good work of the police, and we will make an example of this case once the inquiry is completed, he said, making it clear that no black sheep will be given any exemption.
