Bengaluru: A city-based scooterist went all out and smashed a triple century — not on the cricket pitch, but on the roads, racking up a jaw-dropping 311 traffic violations!
“This is a real record-breaker when it comes to violating traffic rules in the city,” said a senior police officer while pointing to the star of this not-so-glorious saga — a two-wheeler owned by Periyaswamy, a travel agent operating in and around Kalasipalya area.
Interestingly, the scooter was being used by not just Periyaswamy but also by his relative Sudeep and another person. The challans raised pertained to not wearing helmet, mobile phone usage while riding, and stopping on pedestrian crossings, among others.
While traffic cops dutifully kept issuing challans, they didn’t actively pursue the case — until a social media post blew the whistle, forcing them into action. Netizen Shibam took screenshots of the pending fines along with images of violations, and posted them on the micro-blogging site X. He said: “I have been following up on this guy for a while. Since last year, his fine went up from around Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.6 lakh. How has Bengaluru traffic police not seized his vehicle yet?”
The post went viral with many appreciating Shibam for tracking the vehicle and some appealing to cops to put an end to the scooterist’s reckless behaviour and counsel him to abide by rules.
Following this, City Market traffic police swung into action and tracked down the scooterist. “Periyaswamy was in office when we visited him. On hearing the pending fine amount, he was shaken and asked Sudeep, who was outside, to come in immediately,” a police officer said. Both pleaded with cops to give them time; they were ready to pay a few thousand rupees now and the remaining amount later. “But we clearly told them that was next to impossible and seized the vehicle,” the cop added.
What next?
Going by the rulebook, Periyaswamy has to clear the pending fine. “Many are of the opinion that if the fine is more than the vehicle’s current market value, they can abandon it at the police station itself. This is a wrong notion. When one fails to pay pending fines even after receiving notices, traffic police can register another case for non-payment of pending fine amount and submit a chargesheet in court. On finding the person guilty of not paying fine, the court will definitely act against him,” a senior police officer said.