Nexus in Narnaul: 3 RTA officials 'fix bribe' to let go overloaded trucks

Ravinder Saini

Mahendragarh, May 17

A preliminary probe by the police into a case pertaining to illegal release of impounded overloaded trucks without paying penalty has exposed an alleged unholy nexus between private transporters and officials at the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) in Narnaul, the headquarters of Mahendragarh district.

Nexus in Narnaul

• Inspector among 3 cops on deputation with the Narnaul RTA allegedly form nexus with private transporters
• Allegedly charge monthly Rs 13,000 to Rs 16,000 per vehicle for letting overloaded trucks go; 70 vehicles on list
• Go into hiding after their names surface; Narnaul court issues arrest warrant

The investigation found that three police officials who were on deputation with the RTA, Inspector Suman Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector Jaswant and Head Constable Somvir, would allegedly charge between Rs 13,000 and Rs 16,000 per vehicle per month from private transporters to let their overloaded vehicles cross, said Superintendent of Police Vikrant Bhushan. He said there were more than 70 such vehicles on the list.

Bhushan said the officials had gone into hiding after their names surfaced in the racket. The SP said, “In case any of the identified vehicles was impounded, the officials challaned it for only dangerous driving instead of overloading, which carries hefty penalty. To evade challan, they would even share with the transporters the details of police checkpoints.”

The SP said some transactions to middlemen by transporters had also been found, which “proved the nexus”. Five accused—Sanjay of Tajipur, Yogesh of Nasibpur, Balli (alias Bhup Singh) of Hudina, Sanjay of Silarpur and Ajit Singh of Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan)—had so far been arrested while raids were being conducted at the possible hideouts of the RTA officials, it is learnt.

A Narnaul court recently issued their arrest warrants and asked the police to produce them before it on the next date of hearing on May 24, the SP said. A police official said the racket came to the fore during an investigation into a case lodged under the Prevention of Corruption Act on March 3 against Sanjay (Tajipur) on the complaint of Ajit Singh (Jhunjhunu), both of whom were into vehicle parking business.