My brother-in-law was in Panjim the other day and happened to park outside the entrance of a bar and went to the opposite restaurant to have a milk shake. When he finished and came back to his bike, an RTO official confronted him and asked him to proceed to the Panjim police station without stating any reasons. He said don’t ask any questions just ride. When he reached the police station, the official asked my brother in law to leave his shopping bags on the bike itself (in case of a theft I wonder who would compensate). After inquiry, another official told my brother-in-law why he was called and they did an alcohol test on him which obviously turned out negative. The official just kept quiet and asked him to leave.
The RTO doesn’t seem to know its priorities, there are day light bike thefts, stolen laptop cases which cannot be curbed but they want to frame innocent motorists whose only fault was that they parked outside a bar. What if the motorist was in a hurry to be in a hospital? Or on some funeral arrangements? The question arises if we should bow down to the poor judgment of the RTO officials who just waste precious time in doing alcohol tests. The officials should be better trained and equipped so that valuable time of citizens isn’t wasted. I agree that the officials have a job to do, but motorists too have jobs and errands to complete and have a right to know why they are forcefully being sent to the police station.
