NEW DELHI: For those drivers who strap up the seat belt or end that urgent cellphone call just as they approach a traffic signal for the fear of getting caught by a traffic cop, there are sadder days ahead. In a first, the traffic police - armed with 200 new bikes - are now going to adopt a policy of chase and challan on the Capital’s roads.

So in addition to about 50-odd PCR vans which had been put on traffic duty to check violators on the move, now the dedicated fleet of motorcycles - which was flagged off by Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna and police commissioner YS Dadwal on Thursday - will literally follow drivers breaking traffic laws and issue challans. The new fleet hit the roads on Thursday evening, soon after the launch function ended.

"The main objective of this scheme is to keep a check on the violations committed between corridors where drivers try to get away unnoticed. Besides prosecution, these motorcycle borne officials will also clear off any kind of hindrance caused by an accident or vehicle breakdown thereby ensuring smooth flow of traffic," said Qamar Ahmed, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

The officers who will ride the fleet of bikes have been imparted special training to ensure that they swift and no offender gets away. For this, their driving skills will be perfected too. The move was first reported by Times City after police commissioner YS Dadwal said that he wants to make the traffic police a mobile wing where all officers are constantly on the move and challan motorists not just by standing at a point. "There should be a buzz about the traffic police. The officers have to be swift and need to chase offenders," the commissioner had said. In addition to the 200 motorcycles added to the traffic police fleet, the Police Control Room (PCR) force has also got 121 motorcycles, which are aimed at patrolling in narrow lanes and bylanes where four wheelers can’t reach due to congestion.