The Motor Vehicles Department has taken into custody a car driven around the city by an engineering student in violation of all rules from Palarivattom at the end of a high-speed chase on Tuesday.
The licence of the youngster has been suspended for a year and the registration certificate of the car cancelled for violation of a slew of motor vehicle rules.
MVD officials have been on the lookout for a red Honda City car ever since it came to their notice that it was being driven around at very high speeds.
A squad led by Enforcement RTO N.K. Raveendranathan spotted the vehicle during a drive a month ago and signalled the driver to pull aside. Not only did the driver defy the instruction but drove the car dangerously towards the RTO who had to jump away to escape from being hit, MVD officials said. Efforts to chase down the car proved futile.
The search for the car met with a dead end after the address traced on the basis of the registration number led nowhere. The car was again spotted near Kakkanad on Tuesday and again the driver defied the signal to pull aside. But this time a determined MVD squad led by Motor Vehicle Inspector A. Noufal successfully chased it down at Palarivattom after the car got stuck in the traffic block.
It emerged that an engineering student from Vazhakkala was behind the wheel. The inspection led by Ernakulam Deputy Transport commissioner P.A. Sainudeen revealed numerous violations.
“The car was bought from another person sometime back and was being used without changing the address of the owner. This amounted to unauthorised possession and steps have been taken accordingly. The licence of the driver was suspended for defying the direction of MVD officials and dangerously driving it around,” said Mr. Noufal.
The car was modified flouting rules. The engine was souped up and tyres and alloy wheels upsized. Though the registration certificate stated the colour of the car to be silver, it spotted red colour. “The indicators were smoked while the headlights sported high-intensity xenon lamps that temporarily blinds the drivers of vehicles from the opposite side. The registration certificate was cancelled while the car remains under custody,” Mr. Noufal said. A police case has also been registered against the student for attempting to run over the Enforcement RTO in the previous drive. He was later released on bail.
