Plying wrong side: Additional DIG’s car fined, secy’s driver ‘relieved’

Traffic police today intercepted a car of an additional deputy inspector general of police and fined its driver for plying the wrong side of the road at Bijoy Sarani intersection in Dhaka.

The driver of the car was fined Tk 400 when it was heading toward Bijoy Sarani intersection from Tejgaon on the wrong side of the road around 5:00pm, a traffic officer, seeking anonymity, told our correspondent on the spot.

The name of the additional DIG could not be known immediately.

Also, a jeep of a joint secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief was turned back to the direction it was coming from after it was intercepted while plying the wrong side of the road from Kakrail intersection to Hare Road, our correspondent reports from the spot.

The incident took place around 6:30pm when the traffic officials stopped Joint Secretary Satyendra Kumar Sarkar’s car for defying the traffic rules. However, no action was taken against the driver though he could not produce his driving documents.

The government official, however, said that he asked the driver repeatedly not ply the wrong side of the road but the driver did not listen to him.

The traffic officials were conducting the drive to check traffic rules violations at Bijoy Sarani intersection and at Hare Road in front of Foreign Service Academy this afternoon for the third consecutive day.

During the drive between 5:00pm and 6:30pm, the law enforcers also fined two more private cars and 47 motorcyclists and impounded some other vehicles for defying traffic rules, police said.

An income tax lawyer, who identified himself as Shariful Islam, was accompanying a motorcycle rider who was fined.

The traffic officials also fined a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver Tk 600 for plying the wrong side of the road in Kakrail intersection, reports our correspondent from the spot quoting Abul Hossain, a traffic sergeant.

The correspondent also reported that nine motorcycles, four of which were of police officials, were seen plying the wrong side at Hare Road between 4:15pm and 4:45pm, before the traffic officials began their drive at 5:00pm.

On Sunday, setting a rare instance, police filed cases against the drivers of 57 vehicles, mostly carrying VVIPs, and fined them for using the wrong side of Hare Road. A state minister, a lawmaker and several top bureaucrats were inside the vehicles.

Yesterday, the driver of the Rural Development and Co-Operatives Division secretary was sued for the second straight day for using the wrong side of the road.

Using the wrong side of the road defying traffic laws during rush hour is a common practice of ministers, government officials, VIPs, lawmakers, ruling party leaders and media personnel.

Police were hardly ever seen taking any action against them.

Meanwhile, Babul Mollah, the driver of the Rural Development and Co-Operatives Division secretary, was “relieved” from his job “by verbal order” on Monday for using the wrong side of the road for two consecutive days.

Department of Co-operatives also issued a show cause notice upon him today to explain why departmental action should not be taken against him for using wrong route, Mohammad Zakir Hossain, public relation officer of the Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Ministry, told The Daily Star.

Babul has to give reply within two days and next step would be taken upon receiving his reply, Zakir said.

The driver was sued for the second straight day for plying the wrong side of the road on Monday. Secretary Mafruha Sultana was in the car when it was caught red-handed near Bangla Motor in a drive, police said.

Babul was fined and sued for committing the same offence on Hare Road on Sunday. The secretary was in the vehicle that day as well.