You must have heard cops imposing Covid-appropriatebehavior and challaning people who are not wearing mask or not following Covidnorms.
But in Jalandhar, cops have gone too far to collect Covidtax. Even when you are without seat belt, you can be told to pay Covid tax.
And reason given to you is: For not wearing seat belt,you will pay Rs 1,000, but here you just need to pay Rs 500.
This case came to light here when an Assistant SubInspector in Jalandhar was caught on camera imposing fine on passengers andsaying ‘500 ki parchi katwa lo, fir raste mein koi nahi rokega’, (pay Rs 500and no one will stop you on your way).
As per information,Gurpreet Singh, who was coming to Jalandhar from Sultanpur Lodhi for hisbrother's treatment, was stopped at Guru Amardas Chowk. The inspector thenasked Gurpreet a few questions like where he is coming from and then issued achallan saying that the passenger on the backseat is not wearing a seat belt.
However, the receipt of the challan was not of seatbeltviolation rather it was the receipt for violating covid19 norms and not wearinga mask.
Gurpreet claimed that everyone inside the car was wearinga mask and seatbelt. His brother who has a foot injury was relaxing in thebackseat. However, the police alleged that the passenger in the backseat wasnot wearing a seat belt and thus fined them.
Meanwhile, when he questioned about the receipt, thepoliceman said “For not wearing a seatbelt you have to pay the fine of Rs 1000.And later, you have to go to the RTA office and court. Therefore, just pay Rs500 and no one will stop you on your way”.
The Police also fined Gurpeet for violation of socialdistancing, but the Punjab government has lifted such Covid restrictions forpersonal vehicles.
Despite repeated attempts the ASI in question could notbe contacted.