In 4 hours, cops book 315 for drunk driving

PANAJI: Within four hours of commencing a joint drive on Friday, Goa police booked 315 cases of drunk driving/riding in the state. The joint drive was conducted by traffic police and district police.

According to police, a number of fatal road accidents are occurring in the state and drunk driving is one of the causes. A special drive was carried out across the state from 7 pm to 11 pm on Friday at 100 different locations across the state.

Police said that in spite of creating awareness about the drive and giving it sufficient publicity, 315 riders/drivers were found under the influence of alcohol. In future, more of such drives with an element of surprise regarding date, time and place will be conducted regularly, police said. The drive was personally monitored by Director General of Police (DGP) Dr Muktesh Chander and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jaspal Singh.

In all the cases, vehicles and documents of the violators were seized, says a press communiqué issued by police adding that the cases will be referred to appropriate courts of law for prosecution.

In cases wherein excessive alcohol content of more than 200 mg/100 ml has been found, the police inspector will personally appear before the court along with assistant public prosecutor and seek maximum punishment of imprisonment and suspension of licence of the violators highlighting the gravity of the offence, police said.

According to police, the permissible alcohol limit is 30 mg per 100 ml of blood.

Referring to one of the cases, police said that a tempo carrying 15 filled LPG cylinders was seized at Porvorim, as the driver was found under the influence of alcohol. Police said that such irresponsible drivers could cause major catastrophic accidents. The police are seeking major punishment for the driver and cancellation of his licence. They will also write to the concerned agency seeking appropriate action against the concerned LPG dealer, police said.

In another case at Margao, a Mumbai-bound passenger bus driver was found to be under the influence of alcohol. There were 20 passengers in the bus and another 16 were to board the bus. Apart from endangering the lives of passengers on board the bus, the irresponsible bus driver was also risking the lives of other road users, police said. Police will seek maximum imprisonment and suspension of licence in all such cases.