Seized vehicles’ owners hard-pressed to find keys from thousands dumped by cops

From Day 1 of the lockdown that began on March 24, lakhs of vehicles were seized from TN and are now being released. in a phased manner. While no major discrepancies were reported about how seized vehicles were handled and returned, a photograph of a motorist searching for his keys from a pile of thousands went viral.

Since Sholavaram in Tiruvallur district is on the border of Greater Chennai Police jurisdiction, more vehicles were seized since many travelled to the district. Sources said, with no proper planning, Sholavaram cops dumped thousands of keys in a corner of the police station, making it impossible for owners to locate them.

When a few police stations were contacted, a traffic SI said the keys were kept date-wise in different polythene covers to avoid confusion. “When senior officials instruct us to release the vehicles, we ask owners to bring the slip issued during seizure and return the vehicles. We are answerable to the owners and the officials and thus take utmost care,” he added.