One in cop net for tampering with registration number of two-wheeler

Kolkata: A man was arrested by the cops of Hare Street Police Station for allegedly tampering with the registration number of a two-wheeler which led to harassment of another person whose vehicle was getting prosecuted for no reason.

According to police, on September 30, the owner of a two-wheeler bearing a registration number ending with 4485 lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Traffic, Yeilwad Shrikant Jagannathrao, through e-mail alleging that some other two-wheeler was using his two wheeler’s registration number and citations (online prosecution for motor vehicles) are being issued in his name.

He explained that after getting a few such prosecution notices, the owner of the two-wheeler owner clicked on the link provided by Kolkata Traffic Police to view the photo of the offending vehicle.

There he saw that the registration number was identical but the offending two-wheeler was not owned by him. After getting the complaint, DC traffic directed to start a probe and trace the culprit.

During the investigation, cops of the Kolkata Traffic Police grievance cell thoroughly examined computerized records and hours of CCTV footage to determine that the violations were actually being committed by a two-wheeler bearing a registration number ending with 4495.

Accordingly, the owner of the two-wheeler that was using the identical number illegally was then summoned by Kolkata Traffic Police and asked to produce his vehicle’s original documents. While facing the interrogation, he admitted that the two-wheeler was being used by his brother-in-law, who had probably tampered with the registration plate in order to avoid traffic penalties.

After this statement was video recorded, his brother-in-law was made to appear before cops where the latter admitted he had used black tape to mask the ‘9’ and superimpose an ‘8’ on the registration plate.

As tampering with the registration plate is a cognizable offence, the offender and the vehicle were detained and handed over to the cops of Hare Street Police Station.

Later a case of forgery was registered and the accused was arrested. He was produced at the Bank shall court on Saturday and has been remanded to police custody for 10 days.

Police are probing to find out whether this incident is part of a larger racket or not.