Offenders made to remove dark films from cars

AHMEDABAD: If you own a car which has tinted window panes to keep the heat out, it is time to start peeling the dark film off before you drive out. The other option is quite embarrassing: the city traffic police officials will stop you on the way, hand over a blade and have you do the task right there, as the traffic flows by.
While the police here does not have power to collect fines for wearing tints on windows, it launched a campaign to stop drivers and have them peel off the film on the spot, to avoid incidents like the Surat gangrape.At least 150 people have been made to go through this ordeal since Wednesday!
Delhi imposes a fine of Rs 100 for violating this law. Seventy per cent visibility is a must for front and rear screens and 50 per cent for the side windows in the Capital.
Apparently, the devilry inside the Opel Corsa where the 17-year-old was raped in Surat went unnoticed as its windows and even the rear windscreen were covered with dark films.
MM Anarwala, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said the drive is meant to help the public at large. "The police and security agencies will definitely be benefited by the move as we will be able to check all the cars with objectionable goods. For a car owner too, it will be of help because if he is in any trouble, a passer-by might raise an alarm and come to his rescue," he said.
Then there is the issue of terrorism, too. Anarwala cited examples of how cars with tinted windows were used to smuggle LPG bombs into Ahmedabad at the time of serial bomb attacks in 2008. Metro cities, like Delhi, has reported incidents where people could not get timely help when their car caught fire due to a short-circuit.
"Dark films, up to 31 per cent, is allowed as it gives a clear idea about shapes and faces. We cannot allow darker films than that. We have asked people to remove these themselves when we caught them on Wednesday and Thursday. While 86 such violators were caught on Wednesday, 67 were fined on Thursday," he said.