Fake number plates on Chandigarh Police’s radar

Chandigarh Police’s rigorous efforts to catch traffic violators through a wide network of CCTVs and extensive nakas throughout the city are also uncovering vehicles with fake number plates.
As many as 13 such cases were registered in 2023, more than double than six in the preceding year. Even in 2021, 11 such cases were discovered.
At police check posts, a fake number is detected while issuing challan through the e-challaning machine, when the vehicle description does not match with data of the Chandigarh Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA).
Besides, in cases where a challan is issued automatically through CCTV cameras, the police receive a complaint from the actual vehicle owner, alerting about the fraudulent use of their registration number. The police then blacklist the vehicle and try to trace it.­
“Chandigarh Police have detected a number of vehicles being driven with fake number plates and their incidence is rising. In all such cases, we book the driver for cheating and begin further investigation. These detections have also led us to arresting thieves who steal vehicles and drive them around with fake plates,” said SSP Kanwardeep Kaur.
In a similar case registered at the Sector 49 police station last week, a Hyundai car was impounded at the Sector 50/51 dividing road at a barrier laid by traffic police. Later, the vehicle number was found belonging to a tractor on the e-challan portal. The driver of the car, HR07-G-9318, was then booked in a case of cheating under Sections 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.
Similarly, on May 4 last year, a barrier was laid near Palsora, where an ambulance stopped for checking was found using a Chevrolet Tavera’s number.
Earlier in January, the crime branch of the UT police had laid a barrier under the Sector 11/15 bridge, where they intercepted a Mullanpur resident driving a Maruti Suzuki Swift car, bearing a Mohali registration number. After checking the e-challaning machine, the vehicle number was found to be fake and the driver was booked for cheating.
Figures collected from the Police Command and Control Centre (PCCC) in Sector 17 reveal that out of the total 9.2 lakh challans issued in 2023, a significant 85% (7.9 lakh) were through CCTV cameras.