Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
The traffic police have penalised around one hundred vehicles for violating the traffic rules in last 36 hours during their ongoing drive to check wrong-side driving on the city roads and streets since Sunday evening.
At least 15 vehicles, including minister, lawmakers, judges, journalists and ruling party men, were seen to violate traffic rules at Kakrail, Hair Road and Sheraton intersection, police sources said.
Police also fined cars of State Minister for Social Welfare and two secretaries as their drivers were defying the repeated warnings, they said.
It is said ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs), Very Important Persons (VIPs), Commercially Important Persons (CIPs), judges, journalists, ruling party leaders, lawmakers and muscle men sometimes ignore the traffic rule.
The on-duty Police officials feel embarrassed to take action against them, they added.
So, it is impossible to stop wrong-side driving totally before getting the hard signal from the high-ups of the government, according to them.
DMP in a sudden driving penalised around 100 vehicles in front of state guest house Sugandha at Eskaton in the city on Sunday for plying by the wrong side of road.
The vehicles include a State Minister for Social Welfare, 40-45 of government officials, judges, police, military officers and journalists, said Md Alauddin, Senior Assistant Commissioner (Traffic-Ramna Zone) of the DMP.
The drive was witnessed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Iqbal Mahmood Additional Commissioner (Traffic) Moslehuddin and senior police officials continued drive for around two and a half hours, the police official said.
During the drive that lasted for two and half an hours, the traffic police blocked the cars and motorcycles plying by the wrong side, he said.
The vehicles of State Minister for Social Welfare Nuruzzaman Ahmed and Kamrul Ashraf Khan MP of Narsingdi-2 Constituency were also stopped and both drivers were sued for violating traffic rules, he added.
Cases were filed against some of the vehicles, while some others were fined. Seven vehicles were fined Tk 1200-1500, said Alauddin.
“We fined Babul Molla, driver of Mafruha Sultana, Secretary of Rural Development and Cooperatives at Bangla Motor on Monday. He also fined at Haire Road on Sunday.”
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Earlier in July, a motorcyclist was injured when a car of a judge hit the biker from the wrong side at Sheraton intersection, said the victim Jubin Foysal,
On September 9 last year, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader warned of tough legal actions against anyone caught driving by the wrong lane, even if the offender is a minister, an MP or a VIP.
On June 23, DMP Commissioner promised, “Violators of traffic laws will not be spared. They will have to face firm action.”
