ARTO yet to face action
LUCKNOW: Even as the chief secretary reviewed progress of drive against overloaded trucks in the state here on Friday, authorities seem to have swept under the carpet the file with a proven case of an organised racket being run by a transport official in connivance with private agents, including a dhaba owner, to facilitate overloading.
Not only has the government failed to take a call on the recommendations for suspension of assistant regional transport officer (ARTO), administration and enforcement, KD Singh, whom the special task force (STF) had found to be the kingpin, it has also failed to shift him from Sonebhadra district where the racket was thriving.
Based on the material evidence collected by the STF against the ARTO, transport department had recommended his suspension to the state government in March. However, the concerning file, according to sources, has been gathering dust in the Bapu Bhawan secretariat though transport commissioner Rajnish Gupta, who recommended the action, is said to have sent several reminders for disposal of the file.
When contacted, principal secretary, transport, Kumar Arvind Deo Singh said he could not immediately recall the matter. “But the action will be taken against the ARTO if the transport commissioner has recommended suspension,” he told HT.
On request of the transport commissioner, the then additional director general (ADG), STF, Mukul Goyal got a probe conducted against the ARTO in February.
During the probe, the STF intercepted calls and text mes- sages between KD Singh and a roadside dhaba operator and some other private agents. The examination of the conversation showed that the dhaba owner and other agents used to collect money from the overloaded trucks and then provide the code words for each vehicle to the ARTO. As part of the agreement, the ARTO would not check the overloaded truck when the driver mentioned the secret code to him.
It was also found that the ARTO and others involved in the crime used fake SIMs to make calls/send SMSes among themselves.
“We had roped in a specialised agency like the STF after we received complaints against the ARTO who was conniving with private agents in promoting overloading in his district. We recommended his suspension on the basis of the ADG’s (STF) preliminary report, which found the complaint against the officer to be true,” said the transport commissioner.
Sources said RTOs/ARTOs running such rackets in connivance with private agents, mainly the roadside dhaba owners, was a reality in most of the districts. Even the Economic Offences Wing (EoW), in its inquiry in 2008-09, confirmed that overloading of trucks was thriving in the state with collusion among RTOs/ARTOs and private agents.
The EoW report showed that trucks drivers when stopped for checking just uttered secret code words like ‘Sai Kripa’ or ‘Hari Kripa’ to the checking staff to get safe passage on highways. But unlike the STF, in this particular case, the EoW failed to pinpoint the offenders. “Action, if taken, against the ARTO will certainly have a deterrent effect on others,” said an official.