KATHMANDU, MARCH 4
A truck driver ended up in jail after he attempted to bribe an on-duty traffic policeman in Kalanki yesterday after the cop initiated action against him for driving under the influence.
According to Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, Rajkumar Pariyar, 34, of Nuwakot had offered Rs 1,000 in bribe to police constable Shankar Kumar Panta to avoid action for violating traffic rules under the Motor Vehicle and Traffic Transport Management Act.
The truck driver inserted a note of Rs 1,000 in a blue book and gave it to the cop after the law enforcement official stopped him during security checking. Instead of accepting the bribe, Panta called the nearest police office and got the truck driver arrested.
In recent months, traffic police, who are often been accused of bargaining over bribe money on the road, have stepped up action against traffic rule violators who try to bribe on-duty officials to avoid action.
As per statistics released by MTPD, a total of 94 drivers and riders have been brought to book so far this current fiscal for their bid to bribe cops with the hope of getting off the hook. Those police personnel who were offered bribe during the period are inspectors, sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, head constables and constables.
Such drivers and riders are produced before the concerned District Administration Offices for legal action on the charge of taking undue favour from on-duty officials under the Some Public Crimes Act, said MTPD incharge, Senior Superintendent of Police Janak Bhattarai. The offenders are released by posting bail of up to Rs 10,000.
SSP Bhattarai informed that this crackdown aimed to ensure strict adherence to rules and discourage drivers and on-duty police officers from offering and receiving bribe. "Nepal Police expects its personnel to work strictly within laws while dealing with offenders," he said. "We also rewarded 65 police personnel for rejecting bribe and helping to arrest the offenders," he said, adding, this campaign was carried out in line with its policy of zero tolerance against corruption.
Police personnel are authorised to arrest and send the offenders to custody for necessary action. Common forms of traffic rule violations include disregard for lane discipline and traffic signals, use of mobile phone while driving, parking vehicles in the no-parking zone, seat belt infraction, driving under the influence, mechanical modification of bikes, overloading vehicles, and violation of one-way traffic rule, among others.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 5, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
