JAMMU, Sept 2: Jammu and Kashmir Police, in coordination with the Traffic Police, have launched a major crackdown on vehicle owners concealing or tampering with registration plates, seizing and penalising more than 150 vehicles in the past ten days.
Officials said 158 vehicles were fined and seized for offences including masking registration plates, driving without number plates or displaying plates that did not conform to prescribed guidelines under the Motor Vehicles Act.
Number plate masking includes covering registration numbers with plastic, adhesive tape, helmets, legs, dirt or paint, as well as using polythene or other materials to conceal the plate. Police said such practices are increasingly being used to evade CCTV-based traffic monitoring and e-challans.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Jammu, Amit Bhasin, said concealing a vehicle’s number plate was illegal and had emerged as a new challenge for enforcement agencies.
“In most of the cases, we have found that the violation is done to dodge the CCTVs installed on signal lights to escape e-challans for traffic violations,” he said.
According to police, number plate masking is punishable under the Motor Vehicles Act, with penalties of up to Rs 5,000 under Section 192(1). In cases involving fake number plates or deletion of letters and digits, vehicles may be seized and criminal cases registered.
Police said exceptions may be made for vehicles engaged in official duties, including election-related assignments, rallies and security movements, where masking is required for safety or security reasons.
Besides the number plate violations, authorities seized 165 vehicles for over-speeding and penalised 59 motorists for using mobile phones while driving. As many as 3,057 vehicles were fined or seized for wrong parking, while 18 cases involved noise pollution, six involved unauthorised vehicle alterations and four involved dangerous driving.
Senior police officers expressed concern that number plate tampering could also be exploited by criminals to conceal their identities. They said the practice could facilitate offences such as theft, snatching and other criminal activities and therefore poses a wider security concern in Jammu and Kashmir.
Police stations across the Jammu region have been directed to take strict action against such violations. Special drives are also being conducted in different jurisdictions, including checks on parked two-wheelers with concealed or tampered registration plates.
Officials said FIRs are being registered and vehicles seized in serious cases instead of merely imposing fines.
Police authorities said the crackdown would continue alongside awareness campaigns, stressing that clear and legally compliant registration plates are essential for effective traffic enforcement as well as public security.
