Mumbai Crime: Four held for rigging meters in auto rickshaws

After middays ongoing campaign against errant drivers the crime branch of Mumbai police has intensified its crackdown on erring taxis and autos The city crime branch arrested four people including drivers and mechanics who rigged them to make a quick buckSources told midday that crime branch sleuths examined over 1000 autorickshaws and taxis plying in the city to ascertain if their meters were rigged They have requested commuters to approach Mumbai police if they feel they have been charged exorbitantly when traveling by public transportAction after midday campaignThe meter tempering switchThis initiative was taken after middays ongoing campaign against errant drivers or those who charge exorbitant fares from commuters was launched After a series of stories in midday the Regional Transport Office RTO tookcognisance and caught more than 8000 errant autorickshaw drivers between February 26 and July 31The meter tempering switchDCP Detection Akbar Pathan said We had received many complaints about meter tampering by auto drivers and we asked our units incharge to work on them Later a Bandra unit constable Rajendra Pednekar received information and we detained two autorickshaw drivers on suspicion We then called the experts who checked and confirmed that their autos had rigged metersThe arrested were identified by the police as Jaqir Yusuf Jahagirdar 45 and Sanjay Sherkar 22 who work as drivers and Amin Ramzan Pathan 23 and Mohammad Bilal Faqir Mohammad Mansur 45 who work as mechanicsMohammad Bilal Faqir Mohammad MansurAn officer from the crime branch said All the six units have kept watch The special drive initiated by the crime branch is being conducted especially at Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Ghatkopar Mulund Chembur Andheri Bandra infamous for notorious auto drivers and BorivliAlso ReadMumbai Autorickshaws all over the place at Borivli and Bandra stationlsquoConfessed to rigging metersrsquoThe wires that are used to connect the buttonAnother officer added The arrested mechanics have revealed that they rigged meters in many auto rickshaws In the western suburbs over 100 autorickshaws ply with tampered meters Another officer said that although they have a list of 100 autorickshaws with tampered meters there are around 1000 autos and taxis with tampered meters A special team has been formed under the supervision of Senior Inspector Mahesh Desai to identify public transport modes with tampered meters An officer added that RTO officials are supporting them in the ambitious driveHow drivers dupe passengersModus OperandiJaqir Yusuf JahagirdarSome autorickshaw drivers install a hidden button near the steering to speed up the meter for the fare go to high Mechanics charge Rs 5000 to install the hidden button connected to the meter and the wire costs Rs 120How they evade checksSanjay SherkarAutorickshaw and taxi drivers are said to have a good network in the city and when they see authorities like RTO officials in some places they inform other drivers to take a detour and avoid the spot The system with the hidden button is very easy to uninstall and some drivers know how to do it We have enough inputs regarding such vehicles but we have a space crunch Initially we have seized two autos but if we start catching violators we wonrsquot have space to park their vehicles We are searching for a spacious ground where we can park such vehicles said an officerCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates