Berhampur: Close on the heels of police-public face-off at Rajmahal Square in Bhubaneswar over government vehicles being let off without a proper inspection as per the new Motor Vehicles Act, the Additional Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) of Ganjam district was caught on camera violating traffic rules on Sunday.
A few locals in Chatrapur reportedly gheraoed Additional RTO Santanu Parida after they found him violating traffic rules while he was returning after conducting inspection of vehicles on National Highway-16.
In the 1 minute and 13 second long-video which has gone viral on social media platforms, Parida was seating in a four wheeler along with his staff without wearing seatbelt. Surprisingly, his driver was also seen not using the seatbelt.
When asked by the locals, the Additional RTO stated that he would wear the seat belt once the vehicle starts moving. But when situation went out of his hands, he left the spot without reacting to the people, to dodge further questions.
On Saturday, hundreds of irate locals detained a Mo Bus along with vehicles of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Odisha Police near Rajmahal square in Bhubaneswar alleging that the law enforcing authorities were not checking any documents of government vehicles nor were the drivers being penalised for violations. Police had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the people which left several injured. A few persons were later arrested in this connection.