School van 145;hits146; cop146;s car, driver charged

A pleasure trip of school children in Bahraich ended in trouble, as the driver of the school van 8220;hit8221; an additional director general rank officer8217;s car in Lucknow8217;s Hazratganj area on Tuesday.

A pleasure trip of school children in Bahraich ended in trouble, as the driver of the school van 8220;hit8221; an additional director general ADG rank officer8217;s car in Lucknow8217;s Hazratganj area on Tuesday.

According to reports, the driver of the police vehicle tried to overtake the school van, which caused a slight dent in the officer8217;s car. The result: the van of the Ram Khelawan Higher Secondary School was dragged to the Hazratganj traffic outpost and given a challan. It charged the van of 8220;hitting a vehicle8221; and 8220;not carrying relevant documents8221;.

Around 10 children, along with their teachers and the van driver, were kept standing at the outpost till late Tuesday night. This, after they had repeatedly requested the policemen to accept the challan amount and handover the van.

One of the occupants of the van UP 40 F-1148, Anil Kumar Verma, a Class IX student, narrated the incident. 8220;We were on our way to the Lucknow Zoo in three vans. We were divided into three teams. Our van had reached the Raj Bhawan crossing when a blue beacon car, with three stars atop its number plate, started blowing horn to make sure we make way for the car. Since there was no space, van driver Udairaj did not give the car any room.8221;

The driver of the police car tried to overtake the van, resulting in a dent in the officer8217;s vehicle. A gunner and the driver of the police car stepped out and hurled expletives at Udairaj. The traffic policemen around the crossing also gathered at the spot, he added. 8220;The officer blamed the traffic policemen for negligence to duty and asked them to initiate stern action,8221; Anil said.

Even after the van driver produced his driving licence and documents related to the vehicle, Traffic Sub-Inspector Ajay Kumar Singh issued a challan charging him of driving rashly, hitting a vehicle and not carrying documents, he alleged. When asked, SP Traffic Rajendra Singh said: 8220;Several vehicles are challaned everyday. I am not aware of any such incident.8221;