Not even the heavy penalties slapped by the Hyderabad Traffic Police is acting as a deterrent.

By | Published: 1:00 am

Hyderabad: The practice of illegally sporting bogus vehicle stickers is still prevalent among fakesters and not even the heavy penalties slapped by the Hyderabad Traffic Police is acting as a deterrent.

In recent times, the Traffic Police have registered 80 cases and imposed heavy penalties on violators, but the misuse has not ended. Stickers such as ‘Police’, ‘Army’, ‘Advocate’, ‘Judiciary’ and ‘Press’, pasted on some vehicles are fake, police point out, adding that anti-socials use such stickers to evade police checking. “They try to hoodwink cops by flaunting such stickers,” a senior traffic official said, adding that the violators fail to produce supporting documents or cards when asked.

Vehicles with stickers such as ‘Retired Judge’, ‘Govt vehicle’ are seen rampant in city, with most of these stickers being bogus. A couple of months ago, police arrested a fake journalist (on charges of chain-snatching) with a ‘Press’ sticker on his vehicle who dodged the cops for more than six months. “He passed vehicle checks easily because policemen believed he was a media person,” the official said. However, a senior official said there was no punishments prescribed for such malpractice. “There is only fine for misuse. Imprisonments aren’t there for such violations,” he said.

“A person from Jharkhand, residing in Trimulgerry, sports an ‘Army’ sticker on his four-wheeler. Had he been an Army officer, it was not wrong but he works for a call centre in the city,” the officer said, adding that the owner’s ID proof would have to be cross-checked. This is not an isolated case in the city. Right from printing press employees to newspaper agents, flaunting a ‘Press’ sticker has become an easy trick to evade the law. Migrants from other States with a language barrier, to avoid police checking, affix ‘Army’ stickers on their vehicles. A number of people have pasted these stickers unauthorisedly to evade police checking for helmets, licences and other documents, the officer added.