Big shots caught in police net

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (traffic) file cases against a number of cars used by big shots, including state minister and lawmaker, for wrong-lane driving on Hare Road in the capital on Sunday. — Indrajit Ghosh

Traffic department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Sunday filed 57 cases against vehicles, including those carrying a state minister, a lawmaker and other senior government officials, for wrong lane driving on Hare Road in the capital.
The vehicles were also carrying police, army, media, fire service and Dhaka University staff.
DMP operated the drive between 4:00pm and 6:30pm in front of state guest house Sugandha in presence of DMP additional commissioner (traffic) Mosleh Uddin Ahmed.
Anti-Corruption Commission public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattachrjee told New Age that ACC chairman Iqbal Mahmood also joined the drive for half an hour.
The ACC chief was passing through the area and thanked DMP officials for taking the initiative, Pranab said.
Cases were filed against the drivers of state minister for social welfare Nuruzzaman Ahmed, lawmaker for Narsingdi 2 Kamrul Asraf Khan and vehicles with stickers of secretariat and secretaries, joint and deputy secretaries on board, said Ramna traffic zone’s senior assistant police commissioner Md Alauddin.
Police also filed two cases against two police vehicles, two army vehicles, two private television channels’ vehicles, a fire service vehicle and a DU microbus.
Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said a total 26 cases were filed against 26 government vehicles’ drivers during the drive.
Seven cars, including two government ones, had been sent to dumping station, he informed.
He said there was a tendency to drive vehicles on wrong lane at the crossing adjacent to Kakrail mosque and the state guest house after office time.
Asked about the drive, he said that the drive had also been taken keeping in view Durga Puja and Ashura.
Fines had been realised from seven vehicles, said police members.
The DMP, as part of its regular drives, filed 416 cases on September 23, 314 cases on September 20 and 376 cases on September 19 over wrong lane driving.
The statistics show that despite drives, the incidents of wrong lane driving are going on.
In May, 2014 the DMP set up a device ‘Pratirodh’ at a cost of about Tk 6 lakh on Hare Road to stop wrong lane driving which went out of order in early 2015.

Source: New Age