Eight persons, including six motorcyclists, were killed in as many accidents across the Capital during Holi on Wednesday.
In five of the accidents, the motorcyclists lost control over the two-wheeler and sustained fatal injuries. In two other accidents, a pedestrian and a motorcyclist were fatally knocked down by speeding and rashly driven cars. In another accident, a man fell off a moving tractor and died.
The number of fatal accidents and deaths this Holi, however, came down compared to the figures last year when 13 people had lost their lives in accidents. In 2006, 22 people were killed in 20 fatal accidents reported across the city. Meanwhile, in its drive aimed at ensuring disciplined driving on Holi, the Delhi Traffic Police prosecuted 10,339 people for violating traffic rules. As many as 1,278 people were prosecuted for drunken driving, 973 for triple riding, 3,976 for not wearing helmet and 465 for driving without seat-belt.
More than 200 teams of Delhi Traffic Police were stationed across the city to ensure adherence to traffic rules. Additional staff drawn from Research and Development Wing of the Traffic Police, Police Control Room vans and police stations was involved in the special drive.
More than 600 motorcycles of Chase and Challan Squad were assigned the special task of prosecuting drunk drivers. The Squad prosecuted as many as 4,781 motorcyclists for various traffic violations including 1,149 for drunken driving, 2,083 for not wearing helmet and 615 for triple riding. In 1,429 cases, the Squad members chased and prosecuted the violators.
