Masking the law: Gurugram cops use tape and scratches to dodge e-challans

While Gurugram’s traffic police cracks down on everyday commuters for missing or improper number plates, a disturbing trend is unfolding within the law enforcement ranks themselves.

- Debashish Karmakar

Several police officials have been spotted driving vehicles with partially covered number plates — often using tape, paper, or even scratches — to avoid being caught by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and red-light violation detection (RLVD) cameras.

From the Gurugram Police Commissioner's office to the Traffic Tower in Sushant Lok and the Anti-Corruption Bureau office in Sector 47, vehicles parked at these locations routinely display tampered number plates. Over the past weeks, HT made visits to these premises and consistently found cars and bikes with masked, folded, or scratched plates, rendering them unreadable to cameras.

Dodging traffic surveillance

THE TRICK