In yet another shocking incident the locals have mobbed up and beaten one Alfred Almeida from Vasco for taking photographs of the traffic violators. According to the sources, Almeida was attacked by around 50 people while he was photographing traffic violations from his car in the port town of Vasco in Goa. This makes one thing clear that anybody trying to be a Traffic Sentinel needs to be ready to get hammered by the violators and police will not have many roles to play in this.
According to the report published by the NDTV A traffic sentinel, a volunteer appointed by the Goa traffic police to report traffic violations, became a victim of mob assault on Wednesday.
Alfred Almeida was assaulted by 50 persons while he was photographing traffic violations from his car in the port town of Vasco in Goa. ”An FIR has been filed against unknown persons in connection with the assault on Alfred Almeida,” a Goa Police spokesperson said.
Goa Police, in a statement issued earlier in January, had warned against increasing assaults on traffic sentinels who have registered with the state traffic police, claiming the app-based traffic violation reporting mechanism was playing “a major role in creating road safety awareness by seeking assistance from citizens”.
The traffic sentinel is the scheme which helps to regulate the traffic situation by bringing the violators on board while at the same time the Sentinels makes some money by reporting the violations. “Registered sentinels are paid money as an incentive for spotting and reporting traffic violations using the app designed by Goa Police,” said the sources.
The opposition, as well as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, have expressed concern about the sentinel scheme, claiming it was creating social unrest. ”The road infrastructure in Goa is in shambles. The sentinel scheme has become a racket with these volunteers preying on unsuspecting drivers even in the remotest corners of Goa. There will be social unrest if the scheme continues,” Deputy Speaker and BJP MLA Michael Lobo told IANS.
Meanwhile, according to the reports, the Calangute MLA Micheal Lobo had demanded that the CM Manohar Parrikar should withdraw the Traffic Sentinel Scheme immediately. “The chief minister would earlier travel all over Goa every few days and was aware of the traffic conditions. But now, he’s bedridden and is not aware of the traffic chaos in the state due to the Traffic Sentinel scheme. It was started by him, and he has to now stop it,”
Overall it looks like neither the local Goans nor the local politicians wants the traffic sentinel schemes then the question is who wants it and how the whole thing came into the existence??
