THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Police vehicles that are parked in police stations due to lack of fund to tank them up can now hit the road.
The government has sanctioned Rs 50 lakh to clear the unpaid bills of the fuel.

Though the due amount is Rs one and a half crore, allotting Rs 50 lakh is a respite for cops.

In many stations, jeeps are not in good conditions to traverse roads. As it was economic crisis and the government stopped disbursing fund for fuel, the arrears in petrol pumps shot up. With this came the restriction on use of jeeps. According to rules, there should be two police vehicles in each police station.

202 vehicles purchased by respective station officers for their stations as per this condition had to be parked inside various stations as there was no money to buy petrol.

Most vehicles bought between 2001 and 2008 are luxury vehicles. Though 899 diesel jeeps were bought between 2001 and 2007, not even one of them is in use now.

When the rule demands that a vehicle should be used at least for 15 years, 95 Innova cars were bought between 2007 and 2015.