Hindustan Times: Ludhiana: Saturday, August 19, 2023.
The move comes after secretary of the Regional Transport Authority, Poonam Preet Kaur, filed a police complaint with the Division Number 8 police following directions issued by the Child Rights Commission to authorities to take immediate action.
The police here have filed an FIR after 23 school vans in the city were found to have installed fake number plates, raising concerns about children’s safety. The move comes after secretary of the Regional Transport Authority, Poonam Preet Kaur, filed a police complaint with the Division Number 8 police following directions issued by the Child Rights Commission to authorities to take immediate action. The traffic police had recently issued challans to these vans for various violations.
The information regarding the fake number plates came to light after activist Ajay Sharma, through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, obtained details of the challans issued by the traffic police against school vans in 2018. Sharma then brought the matter to the attention of the Child Rights Commission in December 2022.
Taking cognizance of the seriousness of the issue, the commission directed the authorities to take immediate action. The FIR has been filed against unidentified individuals. However, Sharma has raised doubts about the effectiveness of this FIR, as he believes the authorities already possess the details of the offenders through the issued challans.
He criticised the move, calling it an “eyewash” and urged the police to identify and apprehend the culprits responsible for endangering the safety of children.
ASI Kashmir Singh, the investigating officer, confirmed that an FIR has been registered under sections 472 and 473 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertain to the making or possession of counterfeit seals or instruments. Singh assured that the police were actively working to trace the offenders and make the necessary arrests.
.JPG)
.JPG)
