In a warning to drunk drivers in Canacona, some vigilant youth on Monday stopped a driver, suspected to be under the influence of alcohol, from driving a loaded truck at Gulem-Canacona and later handed him over to the police for a medical test.
The youth have been concerned about a sharp rise in road mishaps, mostly involving inter-state vehicles, along the Canacona section of the NH66 highway.
Some youth passing by in Canacona happened to notice a Karnataka-registered lorry/truck loaded with cement blocks haphazardly parked by the roadside at Gulem.
Other passers-by had claimed that the driver, after alighting from the haphazardly loaded truck, was seen already drunk and could not keep his balance. He was seen walking in an inebriated state to the nearby bar-n-restaurant and falling twice before regaining balance.
The youth then noticed the man leaving the bar-n-restaurant and entered the truck to start the engine.
Suspecting him to be intoxicated, the youth asked the driver to alight from the vehicle and confronted him. The driver vehemently denied that he was drunk, but the youth were in no mood to accept his explanation and warned him that he would not be in a position to proceed towards Margao and more importantly, would be putting his life and that of other motorists at great risk.
The youth later notified the Canacona police and a police team took the driver into their custody. He was then sent for a medical checkup at the Canacona Community Health Centre (CHC).
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