MV inspectors want guns to ‘tackle’ tippers

Thanks to their unending battle with the tipper lorry operators, a sense of security has gripped the motor vehicle department officials in the region.

In a major development, all the 26 Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVI) in Ernakulam has approached the Transport Commissioner for obtaining No Objection Certificate to apply for a gun license.

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the MVIs and Assistant MVIs here on Monday. Based on the decision, the officers also submitted a request to KM Shaji, RTO, Ernakulam, which will soon be forwarded to the Transport Commissioner R.Sreelekha.

“Upon receiving the No Objection certificate, we will write to the district collector who has to take the final decision. The situation has reached such a stage where we can’t carry out our duties without fearing for our lives,”said Vinod Kumar N, one of the officers who had to face the ire of the sand mafia.

According to officials, it all started last month when they seized a few tipper trucks transporting excess loads of sand. Following this, some tipper owners issued threats against the MVIs, who were arrested later.

Apparently irked by the act, the tipper operators went berserk, targeting the MVI officers individually and began to paste defaming posters of MVD officers at the collectorate premises and at their houses. Meanwhile, the Ernakulam RTO authorities said that they would approach the Kochi City Police and Ernakulam Rural Police requesting to deploy armed reserve police along with the MVD officers for the next few days.