Gzb top cop takes away head constables' power to challan

In a significant shake-up of traffic enforcement practices, newly appointed Ghaziabad commissioner of police (CP) J Ravinder Goud has withdrawn challan-issuing powers from traffic head constables with immediate effect, redirecting them to focus solely on monitoring and regulating vehicular flow in the district.

- Peeyush Khandelwal

GHAZIABAD:

The move comes in response to rising public complaints and concerns over misuse of powers and traffic mismanagement. "It was, in a sense, misuse of powers, and public was feeling helpless due to high volumes of challans. Also, traffic was also getting affected. This created public issues, and complaints were also received. So, it was decided the power to issue challans by head constables should be withdrawn," said Sacchidanand, additional DCP (Traffic).

According to officers, the head constables had been vested with fining powers as an additional responsibility, but their primary role of managing traffic flow was being neglected. They reportedly prioritised issuing fines over easing congestion, sometimes even stopping vehicles mid-road to generate penalties, traffic police officers added.