The ‘night combing’ drive by the Ahmedabad police has rubbed citizens the wrong way after 3,000 vehicles were seized over lack of relevant papers. However, what has particularly upset the citizens is the tedious process of getting back their four-wheelers or two-wheelers from the Regional Transport Office (RTO).

To get the vehicle back, the owners have to pay a fine and get a receipt. The receipt has to be shown to the respective police station, where a note is made and the vehicle is returned to them.

The memo they receive during the combing drive mentions the absence of a licence, RC book, and helmet. Based on this, the RTO officials identify faults like PUC, insurance, etc, and also collect pending fines. Due to a lack of coordination between the police and the RTO, huge crowds gather at the RTO. 

There are piles of two-wheelers across 60 police stations in the city, and at once, only 100 tokens are issued, leading to a delayed process for the fined owners. After getting the token, they have to pay a hefty fine of ₹3,000 to ₹6,000 at the RTO.

The sluggish process means that the owners are waiting for as many as 15 days to get their vehicles back.

Ahmedabad city police of seven zones, Special Operation Group, Crime Branch and Traffic Police collectively initiated combing on Monday from 7 pm to Tuesday 7 am.

During the night combing operation, a total of ₹12.82 lakh was collected from 1,684 vehicle owners. Whereas, in the two nights of combing, a total of 3,000 vehicles were seized and documents submitted to RTO, according to sources.

Enraged citizens complained that in some areas police did not consider digital documents and collected fines.

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