GHAZIABAD POLICE LAUNCH DRIVE AGAINST ILLEGAL AUTOS, 320 SEIZED IN TWO DAYS
GHAZIABAD: The police have launched a drive against illegal auto-rickshaws and seized about 320 vehicles in the last two days. The move comes after a 30-yearold woman from Greater Noida was kidnapped in an auto and gang-raped on February 24.
The woman had boarded an auto from Lal Kuan intersection on National Highway-9 in Ghaziabad but was kidnapped in the moving auto and later gangraped at an isolated spot near Galand in Hapur district.
Police said the drive, which started on March 1, will continue till all the autos operating without unique IDS and also those plying illegally from nearby districts are checked up.
“We launched the drive to figure out all illegal autos here. We found over 200 autos operating under the jurisdiction of Masuri, Loni and Loni Border police station areas. We have seized the autos. The registration numbers are of Hapur, Meerut and Delhi. Apart from this, we have issued challans against 400 such autos registered in Ghaziabad,” said superintendent of police (rural) Iraj Raja.
The Ghaziabad police provides a unique four-digit ID to autos operated and registered in Ghaziabad. According to official estimates, the district has around 16,000 autos ferrying passengers, mostly on shared basis. During the incident, the auto travelled on NH-9 from Lal Kuan and passed through the jurisdiction of Masuri police station area to reach Pilkhuwa.
A similar drive was also launched under the jurisdiction of the area, which also includes the Lal Kuan intersection. “In the last two days, we have seized around 120 autos from other districts, and are also cracking down on autos plying without unique IDS,” said superintendent of police (city 1) Nipun Agarwal.
Office bearers of the Ghaziabad Autorickshaw Chalak Sangh have raised concerns about the illegally plying autos. “Most of the autos plying in Ghaziabad are from Hapur. Many more autos, too, ply... The incident was very unfortunate. We demand all autos plying illegally be seized,” said Dilshad Ahmad, president of the association.