Vehicles with films, curtains still on roads

Despite the massive police crackdown in the Capital a week ago on vehicles with tinted windows or curtains, the number of offenders has not come down radically.

Despite the massive police crackdown in the Capital a week ago on vehicles with tinted windows or curtains, the number of offenders has not come down radically.

After a 23-year-old woman was gangraped for nearly an hour on December 16 in a private bus with curtains as it drove through one of the busiest stretches of south Delhi, Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde ordered Delhi police to prosecute car and bus owners using solar films or curtains.

Soon after, traffic police prosecuted about 20,000 vehicles, including VIP cars.

Before the crackdown, till about mid-December, traffic police had prosecuted about 2.6 lakh cars. Buses were not targeted before the gangrape, though. But this crackdown doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact.

“People pay a fine of Rs. 100, and start reusing dark films,” said a senior traffic police officer. “Unless the fine is increased, it will be difficult to check this,” he added.
Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said, “50% vehicles were prosecuted in areas bordering Delhi.”

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