The Tamil Nadu Prohibition Enforcement Wing of the Enforcement Bureau CID registered 16,031 cases of drunk driving between June 1 and 16 during a statewide enforcement drive. Police teams conducted vehicle checks and breathalyser tests at multiple locations across the state.
Enforcement Operations and Penalties
During the operation, authorities seized 14,100 vehicles and imposed fines totalling ₹3.13 crore on offenders. The seized vehicles included 13,299 two-wheelers, 156 three-wheelers, and 645 four-wheelers.
Director General of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal stated, “We have planned to conduct similar drives against drug use, traffic violations and other issues. One issue at one time.”
Deployment and Strategy
Officials reported that about 1,500 police personnel were deployed at selected spots across Tamil Nadu. Teams operated from fixed vehicle-checking points and carried out intensive inspections.
Chennai Focus on Pending Cases
The Chennai traffic enforcement wing intensified action against pending drunk-driving cases, collecting ₹1.69 crore in fines over the past two weeks. Police disposed of 1,628 pending cases as part of a special recovery drive. Of the 8,655 drunk-driving cases pending in Chennai, motorists were contacted through police call centres and directed to pay fines. Special camps were organised at 180 locations across the city to facilitate payments. Police said 785 cases were settled through follow-up by call centres alone, resulting in the collection of ₹81.85 lakh in fines.
About the Author
A Selvaraj, widely known as Crime Selvaraj, is a veteran journalist with over 31 years of experience in crime reporting across leading Tamil and English newspapers. He has covered historic events, including the deaths of former Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers Jayalalithaa and M. Karunanidhi, the IPL betting scam, and the Kanchi Seer Sankararaman murder case. A familiar face in the digital space, he has given more than 500 interviews across 30 YouTube channels, with millions of views on social media. He has also featured in international documentaries on Netflix and Bloomberg, speaking on high-profile cases such as idol smuggler Subhash Kapoor and conman Sukesh Chandrasekar. Beyond journalism, he has acted in three films including the Tamil movie DNA, trained over 200 budding journalists, directed short films, and authored the English crime-poetry collection Chilled Love. His contributions have earned him the TOI Scribe Award and the Humanitarian Award from former Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan.
