It seems that the Ranchi Traffic police relies more on their instincts than the breath analysers given to ascertain drunken driving. It’s bizarre but true that despite several cases of visible drunken driving on the New Year’s Eve the police could not find a single case of the nature.
“There is no reporting of drunken driving on the eve of New Year,” said Traffic DSP AK Mishra. Interestingly, the Jharkhand police had acquired as many as 20 breath analysers in June 2013, to help Traffic police bring drunken drivers to book. The Ranchi Police had been given around six breath analysers however it is used only during special drives conducted by the police. The analysers were gathering dust while drunkards roamed freely on the city streets.
“Breath analysers can be used for examining cases of drunk driving however the city is small and hospitals are near so we take a suspect directly for medical examination,” maintained Ranchi SSP Bhim Sen Tuti. Notably, the police watched helplessly as hundreds of people supposedly under the influence of alcohol gathered at Albert Ekka Chowk on the night of December 31 forcing police to come to the rescue of vehicles passing by. In another incident on December 31 a vehicle had crashed with divider near Shaheed Chowk under Kotwali Police breaking the steel barricading. Ironically, the Kotwali Police did not use breath analysers to verify whether the driver was under the influence of alcohol.
“No case of drunken driving has been registered on December 31,” said Kotwali PS in-charge. Significantly, the Police can fine upto Rs2000 for driving under the influence of alcohol above permissible limit besides ceasing the vehicle in grievous cases. The person driving under the influence of alcohol can face imprisonment for a period of six months to two years.