In a bid to track people who are leaving their homes and are on the streets for no reason during the lockdown, the city police have started using a mobile application called Eye Tracker, from Wednesday onwards.
Ever since the lockdown began in March, the police set up 150 vehicle check points across the city. The police personnel on duty check the vehicles, and those involved in providing essential services are allowed further. In the last one month alone, more than 34,000 cases were filed against those violating the prohibitory orders and more than 20,000 vehicles were seized.
Now the police have started using the mobile application to intensify the monitoring and to reduce physical contact. “The police personnel will scan the driving licence or Aadhar card using the app. If the motorist does not have either, his mobile number will be entered along with the purpose of travel,” said Shekhar Deshmukh, deputy commissioner, Mylapore.
All these details will be stored in a server. “This will have the travel history of the motorists. Some people give different reasons at different check points and roam around. But with this application, the policemen can identify them easily,” said another senior police officer. If the motorist is found caught roaming around frequently without any reason, his vehicle will be seized.
“On the first day there were some glitches and in some places the police had to enter the details manually,” explained the officer.
Police constables involved in vehicle checks said that they felt much safer using the application instead of manually collecting details from motorists. “We can maintain a safe distance and scan the documents,” said a constable.