Odisha: 216 tipplers held for drinking and driving in just one night

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bhubaneswar, Apr 18: At the least 216 individuals have been arrested in varied components of Odisha for allegedly driving in an inebriated situation, an official stated on Monday.

The arrests have been made and the driving licences of 138 individuals suspended throughout a joint drive by the transport division and the state police, he stated, in line with information company PTI.

“Of two,600 individuals who underwent breath analyser exams throughout the state on Saturday evening, 251 have been discovered driving after consuming alcohol. General 216 have been arrested,” the official stated.

At the least 59 arrests, the very best within the particular drive in opposition to ingesting and driving, have been made in Cuttack, adopted by 17 in Subarnapur district.

Regardless of a set of strict legal guidelines and rules, ingesting and driving continued to be one of many main causes for highway accidents within the state, the official stated.

Odisha registered 648 highway accidents in 2020 resulting from ingesting and driving, which claimed the lives of 298 individuals, he stated. In accordance with the Motor Automobiles Act, a first-time offender in case of ingesting and driving will face imprisonment of as much as six months and/or a superb of as much as ₹ 10,000. The second offence, if repeated inside two years, can result in as much as two years of jail time period and/or a superb of ₹ 15,000.

The authorities had stopped testing individuals for alcohol after the Covid outbreak to keep away from an infection, the official stated.

“For the reason that variety of COVID instances has dropped considerably, now the authorities have began conducting the particular drive in opposition to ingesting and driving,” he added.

(PTI)