Hyderabad: For more than 2,500 people in the twin cities, ringing in the new year is likely to remain a memory that they will carry with them for a long time, particularly after being caught by the police for driving their vehicles in a drunken condition.
In all, between the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Rachakonda police commissionerates, 2,543 persons were caught driving while drunk. The Hyderabad police caught the most drunk drivers, 1,300, followed by 873 cases from Cyberabad, and 370 cases from Rachakonda police.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, A.V. Ranghanath of Hyderabad police who oversaw the setting up more than 150 check points at different places in the city, and closely monitored traffic movement throughout the New Year’s eve, said that they caught 1,300 people for drunken driving Friday night. The traffic police issued challans to those caught, and for those among these persons, who were without anyone else to drive them home, their vehicles were held back to ensure that the individuals do not come to harm, or put others in harm’s way while on the road.
"During checks, we noticed that many were youngsters aged between 22 and 30 years. No single fatal mishap took place in the city following tight vigil placed to prevent road accidents. We will continue these kinds of checks in the city to prevent road accidents and the safety of the public," Ranghanath said.
Similarly, around 873 drunken driving cases were registered in Cyberabad. DCP (traffic) S.M. Vijay Kumar said that they had set up at least 120 check points at different places as part of the drive and caught 873 drunk drivers. The Cyberabad have taken measures in shifting checkpoints from one place to another place in detaining drunken drivers during New Year celebrations to prevent road mishaps.
In Rachakonda, the police kept close vigil on traffic movements at LB Nagar, Uppal, Yadadri and other places. DCP (traffic) D Srinivas said that they had registered 370 drunken driving cases against vehicle riders and drivers. It was the highest number of cases reported Friday night. The DCP further stated that they conducted checks till 3 am and there were no fatal mishaps.
