Amid instances of theft of hired taxis en-route after the drivers were threatened and pushed out of the vehicle, the police have asked the cab owners to fix global positioning system in their vehicles besides taking other safety measures.
Police held sensitisation meetings with cab owners and drivers in eight districts falling under the central zone on Thursday on an instruction from the Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order).
Drivers and cab owners were advised on a set of do’s and dont’s by the Deputy Superintendents of Police and Inspectors during the interactions organised at Tiruchi, Perambalur, Pudukottai, Karur, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam districts. If implemented, these steps would enable investigators to track down the accused involved in such crimes and trace the vehicle, the police said at the meeting.
The cab operators have been asked to maintain a log with details of the number of passengers travelling in the vehicle, time of hiring, and for how many days.The cab owners were asked to appoint drivers after ascertaining their antecedents completely.
The participants were asked to be aware of the telephone numbers of the jurisdictional police station and that of the District Special Branch to get in touch with them in case of any emergency. Police said the ADGP had instructed that similar meetings be conducted periodically by the Station House Officers / Deputy Superintendents of Police to sensitise the taxi drivers / owners.
This was to thwart such offences and facilitate in tracking down the accused in case such offence were to be reported.
