Odisha Police arrests 426 drunk drivers in 10 days: DGP

Odisha Police have arrested more than 400 people in the state in last 10-days for driving under the influence of liquor under the amended Motor Vehicle Act, a top police officer said on Monday.

"A total of 426 persons have been arrested on charge of driving vehicles in inebriated state since September 6," Director General of Police B K Sharma said.

The DGP said of nearly 5,000 drivers were put under breath analyzer test on Sunday night and 141 drivers tested positive and were arrested under the new amended MV Act.

He said Odisha Police has launched a special drive under the provisions of section 185/202 of MV Act, 2019.

The police decision to act tough against those found driving in an inebriated state was taken following a direction by a Supreme Court-appointed committee to reduce accident fatalities in Odisha by at least 10 per cent, Sharma said.

According to government records, the state has witnessed nearly 11 per cent rise in accident deaths during 2018 compared to the year before.

Such a drive has been treated as an exemplary step to curb drunken driving on highways, the DGP said.

Sharma said the police officers engaged in dealing with drunk drivers, have been advised to ensure that there is no congestion or avoidable harassment.

In a circular, Sharma had asked all the district superintendents of police, to check drunk driving as it caused maximum accidents on roads.

The police have adopted a soft attitude towards motorists after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed the Commerce and Transport department not to go on overdrive against traffic violators and give them three months time to get all their required documents ready as per the provision of the new MV Act.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Transport Minister P N Behera admitted existence of brokers in different regional transport offices (RTOs) keeping in view the huge rush for getting driving licenses and other documents.

"We are trying to curb this brokers practice," Behera said after media reports highlighted brokers demanding hefty amount from people to get their documents prepared.