Drunk ferrying kids arrested

Hyderabad: An autorickshaw driver was booked for drunken driving while he was taking eight school children home in the evening. Autorickshaw driver K. Lakshmaiah, 35, had picked up students from Little Flower School, Uppal, when traffic cops intercepted him at 3.30 pm. The blood alcohol count of Lakshmaiah was 51. Anything above 31 BAC is considered dangerous and cops immediately seized the auto.

“We thought of sending the school children home by police van but autorickshaw drivers who pick up children from the same school said they knew where the students had to be dropped. After taking the address and phone numbers we sent the children in other autos,” said inspector K. Venkat Reddy. Only six school children are allowed in an autorickshaw, but Lakshmaiah was transporting eight. “We will book cases for overloading along with drunken driving,” Mr Venkat Reddy said.

Four more drivers of passenger autorickshaws were booked for drunken driving while transporting people by the same team of traffic cops led by Venkat Reddy. At other places too, auto drivers were booked for drunken driving during the day on Wednesday. An auto driver said some drivers consume liquor in the afternoons. “After dropping school children some drivers neither hit the roads nor go back home. They sit under trees near schools and play games. Of them, some consume liquor and after two hours, pick up children from schools and drop them back home,” he said.

Activists said more drunken drivers can be caught if checks are conducted in the morning. “Many auto drivers take liquor at night and they have hangover in the morning, social activist T.S. Gupta said. For the safety of school children traffic cops should conduct checks near schools in morning too. Some spare police vans and vehicles should be kept to send school children to schools in case an auto driver or school bus driver is booked for drunken driving," said T.S. Gupta, a social activist.

239 minors booked for driving, one was drunk:

Traffic cops conducted a special drive against drunk driving by minors in the west zone and booked 239 cases on Wednesday. Of this, one minor was booked for drunken driving in Jubilee Hills. Traffic cops did not give details about the minor but said charge sheet would be filed in juvenile court. All the minors are below 18 and do not have DLs. West Zone ACP (Traffic) Sk Masum Basha said the number of minors booked was 239.

DCP (Traffic) L.S. Chowhan said this was the highest number of minors booked on a single day and that the drive was conducted ibetween 5 pm and 8 pm at Punjagutta, Sanjeev Reddy Nagar, Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Beg-umpet, Abids, Narayanaguda, Chikkadpally, Trimulgh-erry, Marredpally and Safiabad. Checks were carried out  at MJ College, KBR Park, Road #45 Jubilee Hills, Maitri-vanam, Satyam Theatre and HPS.

Hyderabad Public School, Paradise, Road #12, VLCC Banjara and Ameerpet. Vehicles were detained after imposing fines. Both the minors and their parents were called for a three-day counseling at the Traffic Training Institute.