BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has empowered special police officers (SPOs) deployed for highway patrolling to impose penalties against traffic rule violations. In a notification, the Commerce and Transport department stated SPOs of and above the rank of assistant sub-inspector (ASI) deployed on national highways can impose fines for safety rule violations like drunken driving, overspeeding, non-wearing of helmet and seat belt and use of mobile phone while driving.
The State government had launched highway patrolling in February 2021 on 18 accident-prone stretches of national highways. The number of stretches was later increased to 36 and as many patrolling teams were deployed. The highway patrolling teams comprising retired police and ex-servicemen have been engaged as SPOs on different routes in Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Ganjam, Bargarh, Koraput, Sonepur and Sundargarh districts.
Principal Secretary of Transport department Bishnupada Sethi has also asked the Crime Branch of Police, which is monitoring road accident cases, to regularly review performance of highway patrol teams.