In the aftermath of the bomb blast near the BJP office in Bangalore on Wednesday, Chennai Traffic and Law & Order wing combed malls, bazaars and parking areas and seized 46 abandoned two-wheelers.
As a two-wheeler bearing a Tamil Nadu registration number was allegedly used for planting the bomb in Bangalore, the city police brought all two wheeler and four wheeler parking places under its scanner and seized the vehicles. The city police in a statement also said that round-the-clock patrolling by two-wheeler and four wheeler patrols had been stepped up.
It added that a comprehensive night vehicle check was carried out on Wednesday night which went up to 7 am on Thursday. Persons driving 94 vehicles were booked for drunken driving.
The police also enhanced security in all crowded areas, including bus stands, railway stations, airport, commercial complexes, and places of worship. All mansions, lodges, boarding houses were brought under surveillance. The BJP state headquarters Kamalalayam too had been provided with security to avert any untoward incidents.
The Bomb Detection Squad was put on high alert to attend to any emergency. The police also appealed to the public to inform the police control room by dialling 100 in case they come across any suspicious vehicle or abandoned parcel.
Discarded After Crimes?
Abandoned two-wheelers lying idle in parking lots of railway stations have raised security concerns. Officials attached to railway security fear several of these vehicles are likely to be involved in crimes.
“Criminals use two-wheelers for indulging in a variety of crimes ranging from chain snatching to murder. In fact, they steal motorcycles for the purpose and dump it conveniently in parking lots situated in railway stations later,” an official with railway security stressed.
In some cases, even genuine owners leave their two-wheelers in parking lots. “They register false complaint with the police for claiming insurance, since insurance fetches more money for vehicles when compared to resale,” he added.
The Government Railway Police in July last year carried out a first-of-its-kind exercise across the State to enumerate unclaimed vehicles in railway stations. It found that 280 two-wheelers remained unclaimed in various parking lots in Tamil Nadu for a period between one month and over a year. Chennai railway division, comprising of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur districts and Arakkonam in Vellore, alone accounted for 220 unclaimed motorcycles, which was closely followed by Coimbatore and Erode districts, where 60 unclaimed vehicles were found.