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ShareSix motorists jailed for 30 days, three for 15 days as the police step up their campaign against drunken driving in the city
MUMBAI: Christmas celebrations turned sour for six motorists when the Bandra metropolitan court sentenced them on Wednesday to 30 days' simple imprisonment and suspended their driving licences for a year. This is the first time such strict action has been taken against those driving under the influence of alcohol.
Three others were sent behind bars for 15 days. Taking a serious view of the increasing number of drunken driving cases, the court awarded 50 drivers simple imprisonment for terms ranging from one to five days.
On Tuesday night, the traffic police conducted a massive drive against rash and drunken driving and detected 207 cases. Of these, 192 drivers were in the age group of 20 to 40. The rest were aged over 40.
Of the 207 defendants, 153 appeared in court and 59 were convicted, Vijay Kamble, joint commissioner (traffic), said.
Though police refused to identify those who were convicted, it is learnt that some of them hold good positions in banks and multinational companies.
Of the 6 motorists sentenced to a month's imprisonment, two -- Mohammed Kalim Sayyed, 43, and Sarvan Venu, 27, -- were fined a token Re1. The other four -- Dilip Kumar Jaimangal Singh, 26, Sudesh Vishram Parab, 25, Bharat Magan Makwana, 25, and Pravin Balkrishna Jadhav, 29 -- were fined Rs500 each.
The court witnessed tense moments when Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) Harish Baijal made a detailed presentation. Baijal said that while the police had collected over Rs2.50 crore in fines, offenders remained undeterred. He told the judge that the fine of Rs2000 was proving ineffective in reining in the rich, who often flung the money at the police and abused them. So, he urged the magistrate to impose a token fine and give stiff sentences instead.
After the proceedings ended in the afternoon, the offenders were all bundled into police vans and sent to Arthur Road Jail to serve out their terms.
