03 April,2009 06:28 AM IST | | Agencies
More than 5,000 taxis and autorickshaws are cruising the city streets on fake licences. They are being driven by men with fake driver badges, according to a report in DNA.
The scam, also involving the fleets of air-conditioned cabs, has been unearthed by the special squad of Niket Kaushik, deputy commissioner of police, Zone 9.
Police have arrested two persons -- Ram Manohar Sinha, 58 and Jaakir Hasan Khalid, 38 -- who had been circulating the fake licences and badges for the past 10 years. Around 150 fake badges and licences were recovered from the duo.
Kaushik said, "Sinha, the prime accused in the scam, once worked as an RTO agent. So, it was easy for him to use his contacts in the RTO and make the counterfeits." He added that the police were on the lookout for Sinha's accomplices in the RTO.
Police said that drivers, who failed to obtain original licences and badges, bought the fake ones from Sinha and Khalid for a fee around Rs3,000.
The demand for counterfeits grew over the six months, after the state government introduced stringent rules for obtaining new taxi and auto rickshaw licences and badges.
