Bengaluru: Cops seize around 42,000 vehicles for not following lockdown restrictions

Bengaluru: From April 10 to June 3, the police seized 41,832 vehicles for curfew and lockdown violations, averaging 774 every day. Last year, 49,414 vehicles were seized during the two phases of the lockdown.

This year’s tally consists of 37,362 two-wheelers, 2,036 three-wheelers, and 2,434 four-wheelers. The figures last year was 46,237, 1,200 and 2,077 respectively.

Cops said that they were enforcing the rules strictly to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The restrictions will be continued till June 14 as the government had announced the extension of lockdown on Thursday. This time, the movement of vehicles has been permitted to buy essential items like groceries, and also to go for vaccination.

A senior officer said, “Many people are misusing the relaxations and we are seizing their rides. There have been instances where men posed as food delivery agents to roam around. Every day there are heated arguments between police personnel and motorists, which was not the case during the first lockdown.”

People visiting hospitals were also halted. A 23-year-old student stated that the police seized her two-wheeler despite showing her appointment with an eye specialist. She asked the hospital receptionist to talk to a cop, but no avail. She said, “As I was communicating in Hindi and English, the cop refused to hear me.”

In the meantime, nearly 3,000 vehicles that were seized in 2020 are still lying at various police stations as the owners have not yet completed the formalities such as producing documents, approaching court and paying a fine. Another police officer said, “It seems that the owners of these vehicles don’t have proper documents to show.”