THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: DGP Sheikh Darvesh Sahib has instructed that police officers who have to violate traffic laws while on duty need not pay fines. The exemption is for speeding and crossing red signals while escorting VIPs, investigating cases and in emergencies. However, the fine must be paid if a seat belt or helmet is not worn. The police officers should pay this fine within the specified time and inform the district police chiefs.
More than 4,000 penalty notices have been received at the police headquarters for police vehicles violating traffic rules. With this, the DGP had instructed that fines should be collected within 10 days from the police officers who violated the law. However, the district police chiefs informed the DGP that it would be difficult for the police officers to pay fines since the traffic rules were violated as part of official duties. With this, the exemption was granted to VIP escorts. However, police officers say that since many police vehicles do not have seat belts, collecting fines for that violation will be difficult.