When the deadline for enforcing the new emission norms is nearing, the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Authority has detected that 154 trailer-lorries of Bharat Stage III are operating in the State.
These lorries have allegedly been registered illegally at Kohima (Nagaland) and later transferred to A.P. and sold here as BS IV vehicles.
Fake documents
The lorries, having 10 to 18 wheels, were allegedly purchased in scrap (unregisterable ones) from Ashok Leyland in 2018. Later, fake documents were created to show that they were of BS-IV standard and purchased from various dealers in India.
The RTA detected 66 such vehicles in the first week of this month.
The RTA obtained complete information pertaining to such vehicles allegedly purchased by the family members of former MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy and sold to different persons after re-registering them in A.P. in August 2018.
Deputy Transport Commissioner N. Siva Rama Prasad told The Hindu that the department seized 16 vehicles operating in four districts of the State. Notices were issued to all the 66 vehicle owners, who, he said, had agreed to surrender the vehicles to the department soon.
Joint Commissioner, Transport, S.A.V. Prasad Rao (Road Safety), said on February 8 that police cases had been filed in the One Town police station here regarding the fraud.
While scouting for information on such vehicles, the RTA detected 88 more vehicles in the State on Saturday. The chassis and engine numbers of these matched with those sold as scrap by Ashok Leyland.
The department is now trying to know as to who got them registered first and who sold them to different people in Andhra Pradesh.
The department is expecting some information on this soon, after which it will serve notices on those involved.
Cases against sellers
Meanwhile, persons whose vehicles were seized – Anantapur (7); Chittoor (4); Nellore (1); and Kurnool and Guntur (2 each) – have filed cases against the sellers (family members of J.C. Prabhakar Reddy and others).
An association of the buyers is making efforts to get the money back from the sellers. As some of them have taken bank loan and the financiers are after them to pay instalments, they have approached the Anantapur police seeking help.
Information about vehicles registered at Kohima is awaited. The 88 vehicles detected afresh too may have been registered in Nagaland, sources say.
