Complaints are on the rise against road inspections carried out by some police officers and Motor Vehicles department officials in accident prone areas without considering the safety of motorists. Some of those who were intercepted in the name of checking along accident-prone curves have also approached the Kerala State Human Rights Commission.
According to some of the complainants, the checking squads are frequently camping in some selected areas where the road visibility is poor with dangerous curves and avenue trees. People are often shocked by the sudden interception of the vehicle, they claim.
Both MVD and police squads conducting checks on the same stretch has also started drawing crticism. There are occasions when a motorist has to undergo multiple rounds of checking during peak traffic hours. Apart from patrol vehicles, motorcycle squads also are on the road to track those who are trying to bypass checking on main roads.
“There is no objection to carrying out surprise inspections as part of their duty, but it should not be done in a way to scare people. The squads are seemingly in a hurry to charge everyone for even minor offences,” says N. Sajjad, student of a polytechnic college. He says young riders are often the targets of such checking squads.
Considering the increasing number of complaints, the Human Rights Commission has asked the police and MVD authorities to come up with proper guidelines for streamlining surprise inspections on the road. The rights panel has sought a report from the police about the safety measures adopted during checking drives and made it clear that any type of checking endangering the safety of motorists would not be encouraged.
Some senior police officers say no checking was carried out flouting safety norms. Instances of checking near curves were isolated and instructions will be issued to avoid them in the future, they add.
