Amid a crackdown on duplicate number plates among other traffic violations, a number of cases have turned up where violators were caught with fake, duplicate number plates. Police claim that the most common reason given by the violators is due to numerology or different superstitions.
The Mumbai Police and its traffic department have begun a joint operation in a serious crackdown on fake and duplicate number plates, wherein they have impounded a number of swanky vehicles. Police said that the issue of duplicate number plates has always been an issue in the city as it often ends up with an innocent person getting a wrongful challan.
A police official said that in a daily nakabandi across the city, the police force have been diligently checking the vehicle plates and its documents, to ensure there are no discrepancies.
"When a violator is caught with fake number plate, they are booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and forgery, along with other sections of the Motor Vehicles Act," said a senior traffic police official.
In one such case, on February 6, when a policeman was on patrolling, he saw a black Unicorn motorcycle bearing registration number MH 01 AU 0979, parked illegally on Abdul Rehman street, causing traffic issues and had fined him through an e-challan.
The multimedia cell of the traffic department immediately alerted the policemen that the number on this motorcycle was fake, which resulted in its towing. When the bike's owner approached police to collect the vehicle, it was revealed that he had altered the number plate by violating traffic rules for his own benefit and was accordingly booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
