200 booked in UP on New Year for drunken driving

More than 200 New Year revellers were booked by the police for drunken driving in major towns of Uttar Pradesh, an official said on Monday.

All the drivers booked were under the influence of alcohol and were driving at very high speed, he said.

While 50 of them were from the state capital here, the maximum number was booked from Kanpur, the industrial hub, where 70 persons were detained.

Most of those booked were returning from parties and were intercepted by the police armed with breath analysers stationed at major traffic points.

An official told IANS that many were also booked in Allahabad, Agra and Varanasi.

There were clear instructions from the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anand Singh that drunken driving would not be tolerated.

In a New Year's eve missive Singh had directed district police chiefs to crack down on such lumpen behaviour.

In Kanpur's Lajpatnagar, police had to resort to cane charge on a group of revellers after midnight when they were creating ruckus outside a local eatery.

Most of them were drunk and were trying to gate crash the restaurant for liquor and food though the place was full, an official said.

The New Year was, however, celebrated with abandon and traditional gaiety at most places in the state as families went out for dinners and parties organised by major hotels, clubs, discotheques and pubs.

--IANS

md/in