In Kanakapura taluk of Ramanagara district, near Bengaluru, a man orchestrated a plan to get back at his fellow villagers over reported land disputes. By posting CCTV footage captured on his private cameras of traffic violations committed by the villagers, he tricked the traffic police into assuming that the violations occurred within the city limits. As a result, the offenders received multiple challans with fines amounting to Rs 5 lakh. The villagers approached the police, and it was discovered that the engineer behind the scheme had uploaded the footage out of vengeance. A complaint was filed against him for misleading the traffic police.
One villager, Nitin Kumar from Keralalusandra, received multiple challans requiring him to pay Rs 48,000 in fines. He was shocked by the excessive penalties, which were higher than the price of his bike. The violations, including riding without a helmet and talking on the phone while riding, were reportedly committed over a period of four months. Kumar, a waterman by profession, rarely took his bike within the city limits, making him even more bewildered by the numerous fines.
Kumar was not the only one facing this situation. Approximately 60 other residents from the same village received multiple challans for various traffic violations, with penalties ranging between Rs 2,000 and Rs 48,000. The total amount of fines imposed on the villagers summed up to Rs 5 lakh.
In search of guidance, some of the villagers visited the Kanakapura rural police station and filed a complaint. Preliminary investigations revealed that a man from Keralalusandra, who lived in Bengaluru, had uploaded the CCTV footage on the Public Eye app of the Bengaluru traffic police, showing various people committing traffic violations. The man had installed CCTV cameras outside his house in the village and collected footage over four months of villagers riding or driving. Later, he uploaded the footage on the app. It was discovered that the engineer had land disputes with several of the villagers, leading to his act of vengeance.
After discussing the matter with senior police officials, the villagers were requested to file a complaint against the engineer for misleading the Bengaluru traffic police. A non-cognizable report (NCR) was registered, and it will be forwarded along with the villagers’ complaints to the concerned police officials in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the suspect went into hiding as news spread about the villagers seeking help from the law enforcement authorities.
