Vishnu Sharma was fined `200 while driving his van in Bharatpur on December 1; (R) with copy of the ‘challan’.

JAIPUR: Forget seat belts, driving a van without wearing a helmet can get you into police trouble in Bharatpur.

This is no fake news, and has actually happened to a 23-year-old man who was fined Rs 200 by the police for not wearing a helmet while driving a four-wheeler . In protest, he now only drives his van wearing a helmet.

The bizarre fine was handed out to Vishnu Sharma , a native of Kharera village under Sewar police station of Bharatpur, while he was driving back to his village from Agra on December 1. He was stopped by a policeman on the road and slapped a fine of Rs 200. In the ‘challan’ (fine receipt, the on-duty policemen have cited “not wearing helmet while driving” as the reason. From the next day, Sharma started wearing a helmet while driving his van.

When contacted, Sharma said, “I had everything with me, including my driving licence, pollution, vehicle registration and insurance papers. I was also wearing my seat belt , but I was still fined. The policemen imposed a fine of Rs 200 and handed me the ‘challan’ citing the reason.”

He further added that he has started wearing helmet in protest against the police action. “Who knows? They may penalize me again,” Sharma added.

Asked if he had any altercation with the policeman, he said, “I had no altercation and I was surprised when he slapped a fine.”

However, when contacted Prahlad Singh , the head constable who had fined Sharma, said, “I was actually penalizing him for not wearing the seat belt. In the ‘challan’ book, I had wrongly mentioned the helmet.”

