Rourkela: Uditnagar police Tuesday arrested 14 middlemen who were allegedly charging two to three times more for getting/issuing driving licence, vehicle registration and renewal of licence from the public at the Uditnagar Regional Transport Office (RTO), said district SP Sarthak Sarangi.
Sarangi said proper action will be taken against the brokers after investigation. The arrested included Pradeep Barik, Ramamohan Nayak, S Sarkar, Debashis Nanda, Laxmidhar Sahoo. Police said, ‘We will arrest the absconded brokers soon’.
Sources said, the brokers were misleading the applicants by opening shops behind the RTO office.
According to the locals, the brokers were charging two to three times more than the prescribed fees for RTO-related work. But they were not doing their job as per their promise, the locals said adding though they had been complaining to the concerned authority no action has been taken.
Locals alleged the brokers could use the official records and stamps of RTO without any hurdle. Some locals said it was impossible to get a driving licence without the help of middlemen.
Questions are being raised why the RTO officials have turned a blind eye to the middlemen when they are operating under their nose.
PNN