KOCHI: The Motor Vehicles Department on Wednesday seized an interstate tanker lorry which was transporting toluene using a fake registration number. The officials seized the vehicle while it was on its way from Cochin Refinery to Chennai.
The team led by Angamali Joint RTO Sadhik Ali, Motor Vehicle inspector Abdulrahiman and AMVI Sulficker T K seized the vehicle from Chalakkudy after chasing it for a long distance.
It is learnt that the agency used the fake number in the vehicle to evade tax. “We got a hint from Transport Commissioner R Sreelekha. As per her instruction we waited from 4.30 pm but the vehicle came only by 11.45 pm. Though we signalled to stop the vehicle they sped away and it was taken into custody from near Chalakkudy. It is only after inspecting the chassis number and engine that we could find that the vehicle number was a fake,” said MVI Abdul Rahiman.
The officials handed over the seized vehicle to the Cochin refinery by Thursday morning to offload the chemical as it is highly inflammable. Though the department handed over the vehicle to the refinery, it is yet to be returned to the department. “At present we don’t have any details of the vehicle. We will contact the Tamil Nadu MVD to trace the vehicle,” said Ernakulam RTO K M Shaji.