An employee of an insurance company has lost his brand new two-wheeler, which was in the custody of RTO officials. The Pulsar belonging to Ashok was seized by officials of Jayanagar RTO as it was not registered. A case of tax evasion was booked by them, and the vehicle parked in the BMTC depot.After paying up the relevant dues, when Ashok asked that his bike be handed over to him, the regional transport officials expressed their inability to do so. The motorcycle, they said, had been stolen. Worse, the RTO officials are shrugging off responsibility saying that the bike was parked in a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) depot in Jayanagar from where it went missing.When he checked with the BMTC officials, they were not ready to take the blame either. Ashok, who has been running from pillar to post since October because he can’t accomplish his duty without a two-wheeler, told BM, “The bike was seized for not being registered and thus evading tax. After the seizure of the bike I have cleared all my dues. But till date, I have not received my vehicle. I paid Rs 90,000 for the new bike and did not even complete 1,000 kilometres on it. When I enquired with RTO and BMTC officials, they blame each other. They even advised me not to register a complaint and assured to resolve the issue. I do not know when that will happen.”Ashok had taken a loan to buy the bike. “It is very painful. I have already paid the EMI for three months and I have to continue paying up in the coming months too. I feel I am spending my hard-earned money for others’ irresponsibility,” he added.Jayanagar RTO Shobha said she wasn’t very sure of the parking terms they had with BMTC. “I have brought the issue to the notice of our joint commissioner. The agreement on providing space for parking was done at the level ofcommissioner and managing director of BMTC. I do not know much about the terms and conditions. As we have already written a letter to the higher-ups, we are waiting for directions from them,” she said.An official of the Jayanagar depot clarified their stand over the issue, not one that would help Ashok’s dilemma. “As per the agreement reached between the transport department and BMTC, we are only providing space for vehicles seized by them. We have received official response from our higher-ups that it is the duty of the RTO to provide security for the seized vehicles,” he said.RTOs in the city carry out such drives on a regular basis. In the previous financial year, they generated a revenue of nearly Rs 40 crore through fines for various violations. Over 4,400 vehicles including high-end cars were seized.