HYDERABAD: It is not often that police find themselves in an embarrassing situation of penalising the city’s Mayor and that too for wrong parking. But when a responsible citizen brought to their notice that the first citizen of Hyderabad, Mayor Bonthu Rammohan’s car was parked in the no parking area, the Cyberabad Traffic Police  promptly issued an e-challan.

And to his credit, the Mayor too was equally prompt in paying the penalty. He even went to the extent of generously praising the citizen who informed the traffic police about the offence. “I appreciate the citizen who bought the traffic offence to the notice of the police. I have cleared the e-challan by paying the penalty amount,” the Mayor said, while making an appeal to all citizens, “I request you all to take this as an example... not to keep quite at offence that comes to your notice’’.

The Mayor, however, took the opportunity to explain that it was not an ‘intentional offence’. “It was not an intentional offence by my driver. It happened when we were on our duty responding to the problems in the city. It isn’t an excuse though. Nobody is above the law. Rules are there for everyone and we all should abide by them,” the Mayor said, adding that he is ‘not punishing his driver for the offence.’

The said offence was committed on Thursday, during the inspection of developmental works like Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) and cable stayed bridge at Durgam Cheruvu lake near iLabs, Inorbit Mall, when along with that of officials of various departments, the Mayor’s  vehicle too was parked on the road -- a no parking zone.

A citizen clicked the photo of the vehicle and posted the same on Twitter, urging the Cyberabad Traffic Police to take action. The traffic police, after verification, issued a `135 e-challan. The Cyberabad Traffic Police also thanked the alert citizen for helping improve road safety.