He complained about a person with an illegal licence plate number.
On January 24, Sandeep N Ohri of Kandivali East saw an illegal number plate in Thakur village. Having worked in the Homeland and GIS department of a company, Ohri was well aware that the number plate which has any other words like PRESS, BJP, Congress etc apart from the licensed number or are in a font, different than the standard one, are illegal. He soon posted about it on Twitter and Whatsapp and was pleasantly surprised when the traffic cops not only acted against the offender but also sent Ohri a picture of the fine receipt.
"I started interacting with the traffic policemen at the spot when I saw the number plate; nobody seemed to know that it was illegal. Political parties, the press, so many people do this to get away with the toll tax. It's high time they pay up for this," said Ohri.
He then tweeted to the new Mumbai Police twitter handle at 2.20 pm saying, "Is this a legal number plate? Please just answer yes or no."
Knowing that there was a Whatsapp number of the Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP), he then complained about the person with the illegal number plate at 2.22 pm. "I purposely put complaints both on Twitter and Whatsapp. I wanted to see who works faster," said Ohri, who got a reply from the traffic department within a minute and a picture of the receipt on the same day at 8.30 pm.
"They sent an officer from Dahisar to Samtanagar, found the offender, fined him and even sent me a receipt, I didn't even ask for it. I'm happily surprised," said Ohri.
"The Twitter handle I think is outsourced. That's why they are so ill-equipped and have no knowledge what so ever," said Ohri. He has even started a group called ' Report Mumbai Traffic Violations' on Facebook on May 28, 2014, with about 3,800 members. "We are not scared. If a thief comes and breaks your furniture, will you sit and watch and say 'We'll see to it later'? No, right? Then why this? This is your own country," he said.
This article was first published on iamin.in. For more such hyperlocal stories, visit their website.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Representational image")
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}