Ahmedabad: Auto Rickshaw Seized, Challaned Rs 18,000; Unemployed Auto Driver Attempts Suicide

An autorickshaw driver from Ahmedabad’s Gomtipur area tried to commit suicide by consuming phenyl last week after claiming that his vehicle was seized by the traffic police one-and-a-half months ago, which has adversely affected his livelihood.

What Happened?

Raju Solanki, 48, is the only breadwinner in his family. He has been unemployed for the past one-and-a-half months. His relatives said that he was issued a memo of Rs 18,000 over pending third-party insurance by the regional transport office (RTO) since his vehicle was seized.

After consuming a few drops of phenyl at his residence in Rajpur area of Gomtipur last week, Raju was rushed to LG Hospital.

“We visited the victim in the morning hours. At the time he claimed he had taken the extreme step due to financial distress. However, in the afternoon, he claimed that his auto had been seized for the past 1.5 months with a memo of Rs 18,000 by the RTO,” The Indian Express quoted Gomtipur police station in-charge CB Tandel as saying, “We have not seen the memo yet, and the victim is still in the intensive care unit of LG Hospital.”

According to Raju’s family, the introduction of the newly implemented Motor Vehicles Act in Gujarat made him all the more paranoid.

Raju’s family consists of his wife Beena Solanki, and two sons aged 22 years and 12 years.

“The auto rickshaw driver must have other pending dues as well, which then must have accumulated into such an amount. The vehicle was seized, and the memo was given as per procedure,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic administration, Tejas Patel said.

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